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What Happened to Blue Security
shadowknot writes "Blue Security has published a detailed account of the attack on their servers perpetrated by spammer "PharmaMaster". The attack included a DDoS attack on the Blue Security operational system and a Black Hole filtering attack on the Blue Security website. From the article: "The first attack was to block worldwide access to Blue Security's corporate website (www.bluesecurity.com) by tampering with the Internet backbone using a technique called "Blackhole Filtering". The Second attack was a DDoS attack on Blue Security's operational system."
They deserve a break.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Come on, if you have never used Bluesecurity, then you were obviously not in their database, and your email could not have been leaked to the spammers! Obviously, the spammers just sent out these FUD spam mails to everyone, just like spammers generally do.
[May 3rd 16:43 GMT]
PharmaMaster Strikes Again, Takes Down Tucows
PharmaMaster starts another attack and takes down Tucows's DNS servers which were serving thousands of sites, including Blue Security's. Tucows terminates Blue Security's account in an attempt to stop the attack.
And it was't all that long ago that DNS vulnerabilities were under discussion. Attacking a DNS server not only takes out the site intended, it has the bonus of collateral damage. Imagine the chagrin of all the other sites served by Tucows when they all go down en masse and imagine the PR campaign that Blue Security is going to have to wage to get any credibility back.
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
Isn't the fact that you, a non-user, got the email proof enough that nothing was leaked? Unless the spammer "hacked" your address from a list it wasn't on (which would be a neat trick) he or she was just spamming everyone available, hoping to get Bluesecurity's users along with it.
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Even if the servers were temporarily downed, the publicity generated from this incident surely got quite a few new members.
Heck, I even signed up; shall have to wait and see if it's worth it though.
Someone used their tool to clean a list, then compared the clean list to a "pre-scrub" list, which means they didn't gain any email addresses, they just learned something about the emails they already had been sending spam to.
Don't quit Blue Security. My philosophy boils down to "millions for defense, not a penny for tribute" (Jefferson).
Looks like Tucow really behaved badly. They cancled an account of a legimite user instead of defeating the attack. The should never have given into the spammer's demands.
Apparently spammers are lining up to help out Pharmamaster from the SpecialHam forums. Digg.com users yesterday attempted lauching multiple types of bandwidth vampirism and DDOS attacks on SpecialHam yesterday as well. http://digg.com/technology/SPAMmers_really_pissed_ off_at_bluesecurity,_read_their_message_board
>Blue?s operational team reports on more symptoms supporting PharmaMaster's claims that the backbone of the Internet was compromised (blackhole filtering at the backbone level).
No offence to the Blue guys' disrupted service, but I think this is the most interesting bit. I wonder whether this description is correct and if so, how the spammer achieved THAT.
The forum that organized (or at least helped in) the attack is located here, but I think it's still down. It was nailed by a deliberate vigilante DDoS from about a hundred or so Digg members yesterday/last night. They hacked a university to host it after the first host got nailed. Not sure what happened after that.
What happened was that the spammer complied with instructions from Blue Security to download a program that washed Blue Security protected email addresses from the spammers' sucker list. When theis program was run on the spammer's email list Blue Security email addresses were purged. The spammer simply compared the purged list against his unpurged list and listed all the email addresses that were removed. He then sent the threatening emails to any email address that was purged from the original list.
Blue Security is up and running again. Not only will I continue to use the Blue Frog, I will also promote it now. I do not like bullies, and will do whatever I can to stop them. Blue Security and others that help people punch back against spammers should be commended. I myself have written a signed applet that also punishes spammers.
One can look at it by visiting http://www.plaza1.net/SpammerSlapper .
The applet is GPL, and the source code is embedded in the applet. If you do not want to actually punish spammers, do not accept the certificate. I am also thinking about creating a java application that works in a similar way to Blue Frog - only the complaint instructions will be distributed via a peer to peer protocol and cryptographically signed. Any ideas on this one?
this is a really cool story about how a company handled a DDoS attack by organized crime.
xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
Wow, if this is a detailed timeline, I'd hate to see the summary.
"Some shit happened."
As a security guy, this could have been really interesting, but it's not.
PharmaMaster starts another attack and takes down Tucows's DNS servers which were serving thousands of sites, including Blue Security's. Tucows terminates Blue Security's account in an attempt to stop the attack.
[May 3rd 23:23 GMT]
PharmaMaster Boasts Success
Tucows is a company I will never recommend or use to host any of my domains.
Caving in to a spammer/hacker retaliation will not garner much support.
http://www.joker.com/ serves my needs well
Rick B.
Enquiring minds (and all that) want to know.
This ferocious attack on Blue Security as well as Typepad and TUCOWS is proof that Blue Security's tactics are working. Spammers are scared to death of Blue Frog because it forces them to comply with the spirit of CANSPAM (since it is worthless in practise). They are so desperate that they are damaging the internet backbone to slightly increase the limited time that spam will be profitable.
/. comments urging you to stay away from Blue Frog. Spammers do not have Blue Security's member lists - they are simply DIFFing their entire lists with the opt-outs sent by Blue Frog and sharing their filters with the "mailer community". Yes, some members (not me) have been threatened with, and temporarily recieved, more spam. However, this can't last since spammers who do this are simply fighting fire with gasoline! The more spam Blue Frog users get, the more opt-outs the spammer and client recieve which costs them time and money! Plus, regarding threats to leave Blue Frog, does it make sense that a spammer would remove ANY working email address for ANY reason?
/.er to sign up for a Blue Frog account RIGHT NOW (or whenever they're not getting DOSed) and simply forward your spam to yourusername@reports.bluesecurity.com. You can wait a day or two and send many spams as attachments in one email, or you can let the resident client do it for you. It's so easy and the headlines prove that it really does make a difference.
/.ers, as an informed userbase, to stand up for those internet users who don't know how to stand up for themselves.
Do not listen to FUD-spreading ignoramuses who will no doubt leave many
Who do you trust to solve your spam problem? Microsoft? Your government? If they really cared, wouldn't the problem have have been solved long before spam encompassed 90% of all email? Blue Security offers a realistic, fair, assertive, and EFFECTIVE means of hitting spammers where it hurts - in the database and in the pocketbook. They need your help to make spam an unprofitable, inconvenient vehicle for advertisers.
I urge each and every
Spammers are childishly thrashing around the internet like a bull in a china shop, having a flailing temper tantrum because people dare to stand up for their privacy. It is the duty of
We have the numbers and the motivation. Aren't you sick and tired of these rich criminals wasting our time, defrauding our elders, and endangering our children day after day? If we stand together, just as the spammers stand together to attack Blue Security, then we WILL win.
Sign up for a Blue Frog account ASAP and encourage your friends and family to do the same, as I have. And if you think it's possible to reason with spammers, check out this CastleCops forum thread that shows inside conversations from a spammer message board.
...they must be doing something right! I'm signing up.
Thanks PharmaMaster for referring me!
"...we'll fight them at the routers, we'll fight them on the backbone, we'll fight them at the ISP, we'll fight them at the firewall; we shall never surrender."
If you must!