Ne’er-Do-Well News – Page 13 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:19:51 +0000

A 36-year-old Russian man recently identified by KrebsOnSecurity as the likely proprietor of the massive RSOCKS botnet has been arrested in Bulgaria at the request of U.S. authorities. At a court hearing in Bulgaria this month, the accused hacker requested and was granted extradition to the United States, reportedly telling the judge, “America is looking for me because I have enormous information and they need it.”

Independent Krebs

September 21, 2022 admin

SIM Swapper Abducted, Beaten, Held for $200k Ransom

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2022 16:17:08 +0000

A Florida teenager who served as a lackey for a cybercriminal group that specializes in cryptocurrency thefts was beaten and kidnapped last week by a rival cybercrime gang. The teen’s captives held guns to his head while forcing him to record a video message pleading with his crew to fork over a $200,000 ransom in exchange for his life. The youth is now reportedly cooperating with U.S. federal investigators, who are responding to an alarming number of reports of physical violence tied to certain online crime communities.

Independent Krebs

September 16, 2022 admin

Botched Crypto Mugging Lands Three U.K. Men in Jail

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:55:25 +0000

Three men in the United Kingdom were arrested this month after police responding to an attempted break-in at a residence stopped their car as they fled the scene. The authorities found weapons and a police uniform in the trunk, and say the trio intended to assault a local man and force him to hand over virtual currencies.

Independent Krebs

September 4, 2022 admin

Violence-as-a-Service: Brickings, Firebombings & Shootings for Hire

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2022 14:59:13 +0000

A 21-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with stalking in connection with a federal investigation into groups of cybercriminals who are settling scores by hiring people to carry out physical attacks on their rivals. Prosecutors say the defendant recently participated in several of these schemes — including firing a handgun into a Pennsylvania home and torching a residence in another part of the state with a Molotov Cocktail.

Independent Krebs

July 28, 2022 admin

Breach Exposes Users of Microleaves Proxy Service

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2022 18:52:28 +0000

Microleaves, a ten-year-old proxy service that lets customers route their web traffic through millions of Microsoft Windows computers, exposed their entire user database and the location of tens of millions of PCs running the proxy software. Microleaves claims its proxy software is installed with user consent. But research suggests Microleaves has a lengthy history of being supplied with new proxies by affiliates incentivized to install the software any which way they can — such as by secretly bundling it with other software.

Independent Krebs

July 18, 2022 admin

A Deep Dive Into the Residential Proxy Service ‘911’

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2022 16:11:12 +0000

For the past seven years, an online service known as 911 has sold access to hundreds of thousands of Microsoft Windows computers daily, allowing customers to route malicious traffic through PCs in virtually any country or city around the globe — but predominantly in the United States. The proxy service says its network is made up entirely of users who voluntarily install the proxy software. But new research shows 911 has a long history of purchasing installations via shady “pay-per-install” affiliate marketing schemes, some of which 911 operated on its own.

Independent Krebs

June 28, 2022 admin

The Link Between AWM Proxy & the Glupteba Botnet

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2022 18:33:31 +0000

On December 7, 2021, Google announced it had sued two Russian men allegedly responsible for operating the Glupteba botnet, a global malware menace that has infected millions of computers over the past decade. That same day, AWM Proxy — a 14-year-old anonymity service that rents hacked PCs to cybercriminals — suddenly went offline. Security experts had long seen a link between Glupteba and AWM Proxy, but new research shows AWM Proxy’s founder is one of the men being sued by Google.

Independent Krebs

June 22, 2022 admin

Meet the Administrators of the RSOCKS Proxy Botnet

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2022 13:06:34 +0000

Authorities in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. last week said they dismantled the “RSOCKS” botnet, a collection of millions of hacked devices that were sold as “proxies” to cybercriminals looking for ways to route their malicious traffic through someone else’s computer. While the coordinated action did not name the Russian hackers allegedly behind RSOCKS, KrebsOnSecurity has identified its owner as a Russian man living abroad who also runs the world’s top Russian spamming forum.