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...