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:

  • UK: Police Federation Confirms Ransomware Breach

    March 22, 2019

    The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has confirmed that it has suffered a ransomware attack, but has said that it was not specifically targetted and was likely to have been impacted as part of a wider campaign. The ransomware attack has apparently only impacted computers at its headquarters in Surrey, and the PFEW said ...

  • German States Approve Criminal Law Targeting Dark Web Infrastructure

    March 18, 2019

    Germany’s federal states have voted in favour of a measure to extend criminal sanctions against those providing infrastructure to so-called “dark web” sites used for illegal purposes, such as selling firearms, drugs or illegal content. The measure, which critics have called overly broad, is the latest sign of a crackdown in Europe and elsewhere on the internet’s perceived ...

  • Russian national, author of NeverQuest banking trojan, pleads guilty

    February 23, 2019

    A Russian national pleaded guilty today in a New York court of creating, running, and infecting users with the NeverQuest banking trojan –also known as Snifula and Vawtrack. The man’s name is Stanislav Vitaliyevich Lisov, a Russian national who went online under the names of “Black” and “Blackf,” and who, according to a Department of Justice press ...

  • Ex-US Air Force intelligence officer charged with spying for Iran

    February 14, 2019

    U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged former Air Force intelligence officer Monica Witt with helping Iran launch a cyber-spying operation that targeted her former colleagues after she defected from the United States. The U.S. Justice Department said Witt, 39, assembled dossiers on eight U.S. military intelligence agents she had worked with for Iranian hackers, who then used Facebook and ...

  • FBI arrests second Apophis Squad hacker in the US

    February 13, 2019

    The FBI arrested yesterday a hacker part of a hacking team known as Apophis Squad. This is the second arrest of an Apophis Squad member after UK cops arrested a teenager in August 2018. The two, US and UK citizens, respectively, have been charged in an indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice yesterday. They stand ...

  • Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill given Royal Assent

    February 12, 2019

    New laws which gives the give the UK greater powers to crackdown on hostile state activity, have today received Royal Assent. The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 also ensures sentencing for certain terrorism offences can properly reflect the severity of the crimes, as well as preventing re-offending and disrupting terrorist activity more rapidly. In addition, the act updates ...