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:
- macOS Mojave Privacy Bypass Flaw Allows Access to Protected Files
September 24, 2018
A security researcher shows on Mojave’s release day that Apple’s latest privacy protection implementations in macOS are not sufficiently strong. In a minute-long clip, Patrick Wardle shows that the security in the dark-themed macOS can be bypassed to reach sensitive user data, such as the information in the address book. Talking to BleepingComputer, Wardle says that he ...
- Adwind RAT Scurries By AV Software With New DDE Variant
September 24, 2018
A newly-discovered spam campaign is spreading the Adwind 3.0 remote-access tool (RAT) – and using a fresh take on the Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) code-injection technique for anti-virus evasion. The spam campaign features two types of droppers that leverage a new variant to the already-known DDE code-injection attack on Microsoft Excel – enabling them to bypass ...
- New Virobot malware works as ransomware, keylogger, and botnet
September 21, 2018
A newly discovered malware strain is a multi-tasking threat that besides working as ransomware and encrypting users’ files, it can also log and steal their keystrokes, and add infected computers to a spam-sending botnet. This new threat is named Virobot and appears to be under development, and comprised of multiple components that allow it to work ...
- Major Irish utility networks vulnerable to cyber attacks set to have security increased
September 19, 2018
Our water supplies, electricity and gas grids and phone networks are all vulnerable to cyber-attacks from tech-terrorists and are about to have their security beefed-up. That is because all of our utilities and essential State services are in some way or another reliant on digital technology, which in turn makes them vulnerable to digital attack. Minister Denis ...
- Cybercrime: Ransomware remains a ‘key’ malware threat says Europol
September 18, 2018
Targeted attacks replace spam campaigns, but Europol’s annual cybercrime report also warns that cryptojacking malware “may overtake ransomware as a future threat”. Ransomware remains the top malware threat to organisations, causing millions of dollars of damage and remaining a potent tool for cyber criminals and nation-state attackers. The rise of highly targeted file-locking malware campaigns and the ...
- Zero-Day Bug Allows Hackers to Access CCTV Surveillance Cameras
September 17, 2018
Firmware used in up to 800,000 CCTV cameras open to attack thanks to buffer overflow zero-day bug. Between 180,000 and 800,000 IP-based closed-circuit television cameras are vulnerable to a zero-day vulnerability that allows hackers to access surveillance cameras, spy on and manipulate video feeds or plant malware. According to a Tenable Research Advisory issued Monday, the bugs are ...