NetNut cracked as Google and FBI target 2 million-device botnet


Tech companies working with US law enforcement “significantly degraded” the NetNut residential proxy network as part of an ongoing effort to disrupt the tools cybercriminals use to conceal their activity, say researchers.

The work was carried out by Google, Lumen, Shadowserver, the FBI, and others, and marks a continuation of the IPIDEA proxy network disruption from January.

According to Google Cloud, those working on the operation believe NetNut was among the most popular residential proxy network providers and had at least 2 million devices enrolled in its botnet, comprising mainly small TV-streaming hardware. Crims often use residential proxy networks to make it look like their traffic is actually coming from legit homes and businesses.

Read more…
Source:  The Register


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Man jailed for running multimillion-pound criminal website iSpoof

    May 19, 2023

    The man responsible for running a multimillion-pound fraud website, used by scammers to trick people into handing over their bank details, has been jailed. Tejay Fletcher, 35, pleaded guilty to running iSpoof, a website that allowed criminals and fraudsters to appear as if they were calling from banks, tax offices and other official bodies in an ...

  • Balkans’ biggest drug lords arrested after investigation into encrypted phones

    May 12, 2023

    On 11 May, coordinated raids were carried out in Serbia and the Netherlands, targeting both the cartel’s leadership and distribution infrastructure. Seven other members of this criminal organisation were already arrested in Belgium in 2021. Two individuals were previously arrested for other offences in Serbia and Peru. Another suspect was arrested in the Netherlands on ...

  • UK man pleads guilty to hijacking Twitter accounts including of Joe Biden and Elon Musk

    May 10, 2023

    A British man has pleaded guilty over his role in schemes to hack the Twitter accounts of celebrities including Joe Biden and Elon Musk, as well as stealing $794,000 in cryptocurrency. Joseph James O’Connor, 23, entered his guilty plea in a New York court after being extradited from Spain on 26 April. Read more… Source: The Guardian  

  • Spanish police dismantle phishing operation linked to crime ring

    May 9, 2023

    The National Police of Spain have arrested two hackers, 15 members of a criminal organization, and another 23 people involved in illegal financial operations in Madrid and Seville for alleged bank scams. The cybercrime operation is an email and SMS-based phishing campaign that allegedly scammed over 300,000 people and resulted in confirmed losses of at least ...

  • Ransomware attack hampering Dallas police operations

    May 3, 2023

    A major component of the City of Dallas’ police communications system went down Monday morning, as well as some other city services. CBS News Texas’ J.D. Miles has multiple sources confirming the outage was caused by a ransomware attack against the city’s systems. The outage is impacting DPD’s computer assisted dispatch system, called CAD, which directs police ...

  • Genesis Market Disrupted in International Cyber Operation

    April 6, 2023

    U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin joined the Attorney General and other Justice Department officials in announcing a coordinated international operation that resulted in the dismantlement of Genesis Market, a criminal marketplace accessible on the dark web and clear web that advertised and sold packages of account access credentials – ...