FBI Takes Out $14M DNS Malware Operation

coondoggie writes "U.S. law enforcement today said it had smashed what it called a massive, sophisticated Internet fraud scheme that injected malware in more than four million computers in over 100 countries while generating $14 million in illegitimate income. Of the computers infected with malware, at least 500,000 were in the United States, including computers belonging to U.S. government agencies, such as NASA."

Comments

Last Post

[Anonymous Coward]

Posted from one of the bots.

Nice job Feds. Credit when credit is due.

[bazmail]

Sometimes you just gotta hand it to 'em

Re:Nice job Feds. Credit when credit is due.

[houstonbofh]

Sometimes you just gotta hand it to 'em

Other times, they just take it... :)

4 million? MASSIVE?!?

[ackthpt]

That's like claiming the interception of one bale of weed at the Mexican Border is a Major Interdiction.

Still, glad they're doing something. Every little bit helps.

Re:Operating systems stats?

[Baloroth]

The FBI info PDF on the malware ( DNSChanger) lists instructions for checking OSX to see if you're infected. It also mentions the malware changes router settings if they are still at defaults. I'm guessing it infects Windows and Mac, with Linux/FreeBSD/Hurd being unaffected as per usual.

FBI stops DNS poisoning scheme

[Compaqt]

The FBI managed to stop MAFIAA from passing PROTECT-IP?

Of course, there are some remaining problems...

[Arrogant-Bastard]

...because there are now 4 million pre-compromised systems in the field. It's a certainty that they are now all attractive targets for anyone clever enough to detect them and acquire control of them. I think chances are quite good that as you're reading this, more than one person/group is attempting that very thing. They'll probably succeed. And when they do, they'll use yet another C&C mechanism to organize them, harness them, and get on to whatever mischief they choose.

Seen in that context, this announcement is just a PR exercise. It has no real significance.

How to check DNS server settings on OS X

[DrProton]

This is good on Lion and Snow Leopard AFAIK: networksetup -getdnsservers Ethernet Wi-Fi

This command has extensive help: networksetup -help

I use networksetup every day. I have numerous makefile targets that change my network settings based on my location. I'm a a road warrior changing networks frequently and using a VPN and ssh to connect to the corporate network.