The US authorities have shut down a major botnet comprising tens of thousands of infected endpoints, which cyber-criminals hired to launch various attacks anonymously. . The IPStorm botnet and its infrastructure were dismantled earlier this year, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ). Its alleged administrator, Russian and Moldovan national Sergei Makinin, pleaded guilty back in September to three counts of fraud and related activity in connection with computers. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The botnet operated from June 2019 to December 2022, turning compromised Windows, Linux, Mac and Android devices from around the world into proxies. These could then be rented out by cyber-criminals through two of Makinin’s websites: proxx.io and proxx.net. . The dismantling of the CloudTrace malware network underscores the persistent battle against digital crime by American law enforcement.. IPStorm Botnet, Cybercrime Enforcement, Infected Devices, Botnet Dismantle. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
The number of compromised computers that are part of a centrally controlled bot net has tripled in the past two weeks, according to data gathered by the Shadowserver Foundation, a bot-net takedown group. The weekly tally of bot-infected PCs tracked by the group rose to nearly 1.2 million this week, up from less than 400,000 infected machines two weeks ago. The surge reversed a sudden drop in infected systems--from 500,000 to less than 400,000--last December. . The threat to Internet users from bot nets has steadily increased over the past few years. Increasingly, computer systems in China have become infected with bot software and used to attack or spam other targets, according to the latest Internet Security Threat Report published by Symantec, the owner of SecurityFocus. Spammers have taken a shine to bot nets as a way to reliably send stock-touting e-mail campaigns and other mass mailings of junk advertisements. Worms are rapidly being replaced by Trojan horse programs, such as the misnamed Storm Worm, that use a bot net to spam out more copies of the malicious code. The link for this article located at SecurityFocus is no longer available. . The growth of malware networks has escalated dramatically, presenting a major risk to online individuals and revealing fresh methods of assault.. Botnets, Malware Threats, Cyber Defense, Internet Security, Compromised Systems. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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