Attackers Moving to Social Networks For Command and Control

Bot herders and the crimeware gangs behind banker Trojans have had a lot of success in the last few years with using bulletproof hosting providers as their main base of operations. But more and more, they’re finding that social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are offering even more fertile...

New, Simple Twitter Botnet Tool Debuts

There is a new point-and-click tool circulating online that enables virtually anyone to create a piece of malware that will connect a PC to a budding Twitter botnet. The tool, known as TwitterNET Builder, is being used by attackers to build quick and easy botnets that are then controlled through...

Waledac Botnet Now Completely Crippled, Experts Say

After Microsoft’s actions to take down the Waledac botnet last month, there was some question about whether the operation was much more than a grab for headlines that would have little effect on actual spam levels or malware infections. But more than three weeks after the takedown, researchers sa...

To Catch a Botnet: How Mariposa Was Busted

More details follow the news of the Spanish botnet Mariposa and its owners being caught. The Mariposa Working Group infiltrated the command-and-control structure of Mariposa to monitor the communication channels that relayed information from compromised systems back to the hackers who run the...

Behind the Scenes of the Botnet Epidemic

2009 saw many, many new botnet outbreaks and advancements in their criminal management. Throughout the year Damballa tracked thousands of distinct criminal operated botnets and identified millions of newly compromised enterprise systems each day. This week I’m going to share some of our findings...

Researchers Discover New ACH Banker Trojan

Malware hunters at SecureWorks have intercepted a new banker Trojan being used by cyber-criminals to steal financial credentials from banks in the U.S. The Trojan, dubbed “Bugat,” targets Automated Clearing House ACH and wire transfer transactions by small- and mid-sized business in the U.S., muc...

Infiltrating the Pushdo Botnet

It’s very rare that we researchers get a chance to explore the inner workings of a botnet command and control server. Detailed insight into the botnet server or command component can give us valuable information about the motives of the botnet and possibly the bad guys behind it. But granting...

iPhone Worm Was Simple, Yet Effective, Analysis Shows

The iKee worm that was infecting jailbroken iPhones last month was a simple, yet effective, piece of software that shows how easy it might be for an attacker to create a fairly large, functioning botnet comprising mobile devices, an analysis of the worm shows. Researchers at SRI International’s...

ID Theft Gang Using Amazon's EC2 as Command and Control Server

Security researchers have intercepted a new variant of the Zeus crimeware using Amazon’s EC2 services to command and control the botnet. The cybercriminals appear to be using Amazon’s RDS managed database hosting service as a backend alternative in case they lose access to the original domain,...

How to Take Down a Botnet

The botnet problem has reached epidemic levels in recent months, with the continued growth of large-scale botnets, as well as the identification of smaller, more targeted networks around the world. But researchers have been taking steps to disrupt botnets of late, with some notable successes, as...

Malware Economy is Thriving

TORONTO — The legitimate economy may be in rough shape right now, but the same cannot be said for the underground economy. Malware authors and botmasters are thriving, experts say, with some online criminals charging as much as $3,500 for their attack toolkits. But don’t be intimidated by the hig...

Inside the URLZone Trojan Network

Security researchers tracking the URL Zone malware/botnet have stumbled upon a new tactic being used by cyber-criminals to hide information on the money mules being used to transfer stolen funds from compromised online bank accounts. URLZone, which targets computer users in Western Europe, is a...

Researcher Finds Twitter Botnet Command Channel

Arbor Networks security researcher Jose Nazario has stumbled upon a crimeware botnet using Twitter as its command-and-control operation. The botnet, which is linked to identity thieves in Brazil, uses Twitter status messages to communicate with bots — sending new links for the infected computers ...

Researcher Finds Twitter Botnet Command Channel

Arbor Networks security researcher Jose Nazario has stumbled upon a crimeware botnet using Twitter as its command-and-control operation. The botnet, which is linked to identity thieves in Brazil, uses Twitter status messages to communicate with bots — sending new links for the infected computers ...

New attack class exploits intranet weaknesses

A security researcher has developed an interesting new class of attacks that exploit the problems caused by organizations using non-routable IP space on their internal networks, including one attack that compromises VPN users through the use of a persistent JavaScript backdoor. The attacks rely o...