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TimeWarner DNS Hijacking
Exstatica writes "It looks like TimeWarner is taking vigilante action on the botnet problem. They've hijacked DNS for a few IRC servers, the latest being irc.mzima.net and irc.nac.net — both part of EFNet. (irc.vel.net was hijacked earlier but has been restored.) Using ns1.sd.cox.net, the lookup returns an IP for what looks to be a script that forces the user into a channel and issues a set of commands to clean the drones. There have been different reports of other IRC networks being hijacked and other DNS servers involved. Is this the right way to handle the botnet problem? Is hijacking DNS legal?" Botnets are starting to move off of IRC for command and control, anyway.
Update: 07/24 00:01 GMT by KD : Updated and added more links; thanks to Drew Matthews at vel.net. 07/24 11:52 GMT by KD : Daniel Haskell wrote in to say that ircd.nac.net is seeing cox.net connections again, and that they are in discussion with the EFF over the matter.
Update: 07/24 00:01 GMT by KD : Updated and added more links; thanks to Drew Matthews at vel.net. 07/24 11:52 GMT by KD : Daniel Haskell wrote in to say that ircd.nac.net is seeing cox.net connections again, and that they are in discussion with the EFF over the matter.
Frankly, I think it's about time somebody started ACTING on the problems we face online. Botnets are a huge global issue, and we simply must do all that we can to stop them. Although I suppose this probably could be considered illegal (remotely installing software on somebody's PC without their authorisation breaks pretty much every anti-hacking law in the land), how else can we tackle these issues? Zombie PCs aren't going away any time soon, so more needs to be done. The only problem is as the OP originally stated - botnet control is moving away from IRC networks anyway, so this may also be a case of too little too late. What other methods can be used to help curb the botnet problem?
So we can expect the next generation of malware to alter systems to use OpenDNS?
Might make some systems a little more useful!
Let's face it, the company with the most responsibility in the Botnet mess, Microsoft, has been sitting on their hands when it comes to dealing with the issue. Well, until they figured out they could make a buck at it.
Botnets are used by organized crime for spam, stock scams and a host of other illegal activities. It's time someone did something...if only for the political effect.
That sounds like dirty lawyer logic.
Next you'll argue that reverse engineering a virus is a violation of the DMCA.
Ill be the first to say it. Who the fuck cares. The problem is being delt with.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
If I wish to black hole something on my DNS, it is my prerogative to do so. If someone else is using my server for free and complains about the shitty service, then I'll gladly refund his money...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Once again, the ISP has punished the good guys for problems crated by the bad guys. The root cause of the botnet is Windoze. Fixing it and raising awareness is as simple as cutting the problem computers off your network and telling their owners why. This is as it should be and pretending otherwise props up third rate software and threatens the stability of the net.
I wish I hadn't run out of mod points; this is gold.
That's a pretty cut and dried way of reducing the number of bots. Cutting the user off forces them to understand what is wrong and why they're cut off. If you just give them information most will just click past it and continue on their merry way. Users don't want information. They want the pr0nz as quick as possible. Didn't you know that?
I can think of one case where a (now ex) friend of mine would email To: every single person in her work address book with SPAM for her work. I started out telling her to use the Bcc: field at least and pointed her to a web page describing why you'd want to do that. she replied "I don't want to read all that technical garbage" then carried on the same. Then I asked her to remove me from her list. She replied "I am going to send you this stuff because I know you want it" (it really was SPAM for her work, it wasn't even jokes or chain mail). There ended our friendship as I reported them to their ISP. They were warned by their ISP and still continued doing what they did. They lost hosting pretty quick after that.
People don't want to learn. They are, by and large, idiots. Heavy handed measures are the only way to force them to realise that fact.
I drink to make other people interesting!
I have mod points, but I'd like to collectively reply to a few of the comments I see here. for those of you that are commending this act of vigilantism, stop and think - is this the most effective way to tackle the problem? The way I see it is that being a vigilante is akin to being involved in a constant game of whack-a-mole. The only problem is that when you start taking down bots (or even whole botnets), the people running them begin to realise that their current generation of malware isn't effective enough, and create something that is harder to detect. As the summary notes, we've already seen them trying to improve their resources. There was another post I saw on here that put it more eloquently, essentially saying: vigilantism only helps the bad guys work out where they need to improve.
So how about instead of trying to fight a brushfire with an extinguisher, we get to the root of the problem and start educating users. Yes, that takes effort. I can't begin to count the hours I've spent trying to explain to folk why using an alternative browser (or OS or whatever) is a good idea, and what they should look for in a reputable site, and so on and so on ad nauseum. It's a slow process, but the more people that are aware of the risks - and more importantly, the reasons for the risks - the less there potential 'marks' there are for all the script kiddeez, rooters and organised criminals out there.
And for us on /. - less requests to fix the family computer when we visit at Christmas.
If all you have is a grenade, pretty soon every problem looks like a foxhole -- MightyYar
No, no, and no.
The problem is the assholes who take over people's computers to send spam and flood web sites.
The solution is a well funded police force to hunt them down.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Bit exaggerated use of a slippery slope metaphor. IANAL but to my understanding, their actions were closer to breaking into somebody's house to steal back your remote control. Not to justify their actions- just clarifying.
Ill be the first to say it. Who the fuck cares. The problem is being delt with.I'll be the first to ask: If you don't give a hoot about this issue, what are you doing in this topic, let alone in the /. community?
Maybe if this sig is witty or clever enough, someone will love me...
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
I don't work for OpenDNS, but they've got some nice DNS servers out there for use. http://www.opendns.com/
Kind of sad, the first thing I thought about when I started reading about this was, "Wow... Who'd a thought you needed TOR to get proper DNS resolution?"
I think a well-funded spec-ops team would do even more. Make these guys disappear. I mean, hell, if we're gonna live in a police state, we might as well enjoy a few of the fringe benefits.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Vigilante justice - the mark of the civilized man. String 'em up first, ask questions later. Your logic has been used to justify uncountable wrongs.
In all fairness, so has the so-called "Rule of Law."Vigilante justice - the mark of the civilized man. String 'em up first, ask questions later. Your logic has been used to justify uncountable wrongs.
(Emphasis added).
Yeah, they're entitled to do whatever they want with their DNS servers. You're the one asking them for information. Now, if they were obtaining a financial benefit then it may be obtaining money by deception, or fraud, because they're providing you with false information. It may be a breach of contract, though you'll find it hard to prove that they owe you anything at all. So yeah, there's really nothing wrong per se with what they're doing.
"But everyone should know everything." -markab
A DNS response to a widespread bot infection, a worm attack, or other overwhelming threat would be to claim SOA for the offending domain on your network, and resolve the entire domain to 127.0.0.1. Even that's sketchy, but it's what we might call the internet equivalent of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. I've seen registrars themselves nullroute a domain and in general there's not much objection, because extreme action is only taken in extreme circumstances. That isn't what happened here at all.
What happened here is that multiple ISPs rerouted legitimate connection attempts to legitimate network servers to their own, pseudo-C&C servers. Through the hijacked connections, they issued commands (in the
It would certainly not be legal for me, as Joe Blow, to intercept your packets (for any purpose, good or evil), nor would it be legal for me, as Joe Blow, to use those intercepted packets to attempt to "uninstall" software from your computer, regardless of what that software is. Why, then, is it okay for ISPs to do the same?
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Yeah, because his entire post hinged on that one spelling error that he corrected in a concise and non-derogatory manner that TheRealMindChild might actually benefit from reading.
Kudos for calling him an asshole - with fucking stars.
The author of the software is irrelevant. It's my PC, if a company hacks into it and changes it then they're breaking the law.
That they're using previously installed malware to do so is completely irrelevant to this.
Can they even demonstrate that I don't know of the existance of that malware? Maybe I installed it myself, maybe I'm monitoring it.
It's illegal, and they should be prosecuted.
As someone living in the APNIC region (New Zealand), I'm horrified at the thought of someone blacklisting an entire range of IP addresses - some of which I use for my own mail servers, web servers and so forth.
You're pretty much punishing me for the actions of a others.
Now yes, granted I may never need to send email to you and I doubt I ever have, but that's not the point - you're hindering any possible communication that might be required on either of our parts.
If you're blocking because of spam, then maybe you'd be better off blocking ARIN - you have heard that the US is one of the major countries for sending spam, right?
Or would that just start causing you problems because you'd stop receiving mail?
You can't justify blocking one range for one reason and not blocking the other for the exact same.
Perhaps they're simply unaware that you exist? I'm sure the people staffing abuse@ are a bit separated from the people making these types of decisions.
While I agree in principle, I believe a more prudent approach is:
1) ISP detects your computer is being used for SPAM/DOS/some other hijacked purpose (and NOT just user behavior problems)
2) ISP restricts you to a walled garden where your infected machine cannot access the internet - and you are informed as to the cause and action needed from you before access can be restored
3) you call ISP whining about your internet connection (or skip to step 5)
4) ISP repeats the information from the walled garden
5) you clean up your shit, the ISP confirms this and you are allowed back on the internet
No need for abusive actions against the user. Just put them in internet jail and if they care to get their internet back they need to fix the problem. If the ISP is feeling particularly generous, they can make the tools needed for the cleanup available within the walled garden, otherwise you'll have to call the Geek Squad or something.
This type of hijacking is 1) not needed, 2) ineffectual against most problems, & 3) non-functional against people like me who use an alternative DNS (openDNS).