Slashdot Mirror
FBI Seizes Control of Russian Botnet (thedailybeast.com)
The Daily Beast reports that the FBI has seized control of a key server in the Kremlin's global botnet of 500,000 hacked routers. "The move positions the bureau to build a comprehensive list of victims of the attack, and short-circuits Moscow's ability to reinfect its targets," writes Kevin Poulsen. From the report: The FBI counter-operation goes after "VPN Filter," a piece of sophisticated malware linked to the same Russian hacking group, known as Fancy Bear, that breached the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2016 election. On Wednesday security researchers at Cisco and Symantec separately provided new details on the malware, which has turned up in 54 countries including the United States.
VPN Filter uses known vulnerabilities to infect home office routers made by Linksys, MikroTik, NETGEAR, and TP-Link. Once in place, the malware reports back to a command-and-control infrastructure that can install purpose-built plug-ins, according to the researchers. One plug-in lets the hackers eavesdrop on the victim's Internet traffic to steal website credentials; another targets a protocol used in industrial control networks, such as those in the electric grid. A third lets the attacker cripple any or all of the infected devices at will.
VPN Filter uses known vulnerabilities to infect home office routers made by Linksys, MikroTik, NETGEAR, and TP-Link. Once in place, the malware reports back to a command-and-control infrastructure that can install purpose-built plug-ins, according to the researchers. One plug-in lets the hackers eavesdrop on the victim's Internet traffic to steal website credentials; another targets a protocol used in industrial control networks, such as those in the electric grid. A third lets the attacker cripple any or all of the infected devices at will.
Captain Ahab was so utterly consumed by hate that he was ready to lose everything, his ship, his crew, his own life, just as long as he killed Moby-Dick.
Similarly, conservatives are so completely and utterly infused and consumed by their hatred of liberals that they are ready to sacrifice everything, their country, their family, the future of their planet and their children, for every opportunity to piss-off and otherwise hurt that damn liberal white whale.
You think *Trump* will be pissed about a botnet being offline? Why exactly?
Even if you believe the line being peddled Trump and the Russians had any connection (long since disproven by Trumps antagonizing moves towards Russia, if you really want something interesting look to Trump and China...) remember it wasn't any bot net that got into the DNC, it was phishing and social engineering...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley