There is a big incentive for both espionage motivated actors and financially motivated actors to set up proxy botnets. These can serve as an anonymization layer, which can provide plausibly geolocated IP addresses to scrape contents of websites, access stolen or compromised online assets, and launch cyber-attacks.
Examples of proxy botnets set up by advanced persistent threat (APT) actors are the VPNFilter botnet and Cyclops Blink, both deployed by Sandworm and disrupted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Another example is the SOHO botnet alleged to be operated by a Chinese company called the Beijing Integrity Technology Group; this botnet was disrupted in September 2024 by the FBI.
Read more…
Source: Trend Micro
Related:
- FIN7 Lures Unwitting Security Pros to Carry Out Ransomware Attacks
October 22, 2021
The financially motivated cybercrime gang behind the Carbanak backdoor malware, FIN7, has hit upon a genius idea for maximizing profit from ransomware: Hire real pen-testers to do some of their dirty work instead of striking partnerships with other criminals. According to a report from Gemini Advisory, the group has set up a fake security company (called ...
- Recycled Cobalt Strike key pairs show many crooks are using same cloned installation
October 22, 2021
Around 1,500 Cobalt Strike beacons uploaded to VirusTotal were reusing the same RSA keys from a cracked version of the software, according to a security researcher who pored through the malware repository. The discovery could make blue teams’ lives easier by giving them a clue about whether or not Cobalt Strike traffic across their networks is ...
- TA551 Shifts Tactics to Install Sliver Red-Teaming Tool
October 21, 2021
The criminal threat group known as TA551 has added the Sliver red-teaming tool to its bag of tracks – a move that may signal ramped up ransomware attacks ahead, researchers said. According to Proofpoint researchers, TA551 (aka Shathak) has been mounting cyberattacks that start with email thread hijacking – an increasingly popular tactic in which adversaries ...
- Evil Corp demands $40 million in new Macaw ransomware attacks
October 21, 2021
Evil Corp has launched a new ransomware called Macaw Locker to evade US sanctions that prevent victims from making ransom payments. The Evil Corp hacking group, also known Indrik Spider and the Dridex gang, has been involved in cybercrime activities since 2007, but mostly as affiliates to other organizations. Over time, the group began focusing on their ...
- Why is Cybersecurity Failing Against Ransomware?
October 21, 2021
Hardly a week goes by without another major company falling victim to a ransomware attack. Nate Warfield, CTO at Prevailion, discusses the immense challenges in changing that status quo. Yes, security is hard – no one is ever 100 percent safe from the threats lurking out there. But how is it that time and time again, ...
- Russian-speaking cybercrime evolution: What changed from 2016 to 2021
October 20, 2021
Experts at Kaspersky have been investigating various computer incidents on a daily basis for over a decade. Having been in the field for so long, we have witnessed some major changes in the cybercrime world’s modus operandi. This report shares our insights into the Russian-speaking cybercrime world and the changes in how it operates that ...