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New Linux Trojan Is A DDoS Tool, a Bitcoin Miner, and Web Ransomware (softpedia.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A trojan that targeted Drupal sites on Linux servers last May that was incredibly simplistic and laughable in its attempt to install (and fail) web ransomware on compromised websites, has now received a major update and has become a top threat on the malware scene. That trojan, named Rex, has evolved in only three months into an all-around threat that can: (1) compromise servers and devices running platforms like Drupal, WordPress, Magento, Jetspeed, Exarid, AirOS; (2) install cryptocurrency mining in the background; (3) send spam; (4) use a complex P2P structure to manage its botnet; and (5) install a DDoS agent which crooks use to launch DDoS attacks.

Worse is that they use their DDoS capabilities to extort companies. The crooks send emails to server owners announcing them of 15-minute DDoS tests, as a forewarning of future attacks unless they pay a ransom. To scare victims, they pose as a known hacking group named Armada Collective. Other groups have used the same tactic, posing as Armada Collective, and extorting companies, according to CloudFlare.

2 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. You gotta love yellow journalism by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Informative

    Linux has nothing to do with this. It's a Drupal security issue.

    I expected better reporting of an issue like this from Slashdot. Then again, maybe not...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:You gotta love yellow journalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      To be fair, the cited (and likely incomplete) list from the summary is "compromise servers and devices running platforms like Drupal, WordPress, Magento, Jetspeed, Exarid, AirOS." The takeaway here is pretty much this: widespread deployment of shitty PHP and Java apps strikes again ... -PCP