Few days back, we found another Pastebin entry that contains a source which looks to be malicious botnet code. As I wrote in my earlier blog, malware authors also use Pastebin to trade botnet kits. Many times, snippets of a botnet help researchers understand the workings of the botnet and write detections for it. The Read more…
On April 16, we found a Pastebin entry selling the latest version of the infamous SpyEye botnet (Version 1.3.48) for a much lower price than we’ve seen elsewhere. (This botnet is mainly used to steal banking information.) The quote was just US$150 including three months hosting, after that it’s $15 per month. This version was Read more…
Nitol is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) botnet that seems to be small and not widely known. It mostly operates in China. McAfee Labs recently analyzed a few samples; we offer here the communications protocol and the Trojan’s capabilities. Most of the samples we encountered were not packed and were very easy to reverse Read more…
Darkshell is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) botnet targeting Chinese websites. It was found in 2011 and was first analyzed by Arbor Networks. McAfee Labs recently analyzed a few new samples that turned out to be variants of Darkshell, and we found extensive variations in network traffic and control commands. The Darkshell bot follows Read more…
Tags: botnet, Darkshell, DDoS, denial of service
Malware is on the rise. At the beginning of 2008, our malware collection had 10 million samples. Today we have already surpassed 70 million. Most of the malicious samples are Trojans (backdoors, downloaders, fake alerts), but there are also a lot of viruses, worms, and bots that in a short time can infect many computers Read more…
Bitcoin, developed in 2009 and based on the works of Satoshi Nakamoto, is a peer-to-peer (P2P) currency system created in open-source C++ programming code. Its inventor describes it as a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that allows online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Read more…
Let’s face it: Most people–even folks in the security industry–have a hard time explaining botnets (robot networks of infected computers) in a way that your Uncle Joe or Aunt Betty can understand. Is it really a big deal? Yes, it is. With the rapid growth in malware and bot infections we’re seeing, it’s important for Read more…
Tags: bot, botnet, Cybercrime, Data Protection, Endpoint Protection, facebook, global threat intelligence, identity protection, malware, social networking, spam, Web 2.0, zombie, zombie computers
Most of today’s malware works on Windows and its apps, because it can affect a lot of people around the world. However, other platforms are becoming more popular every day and attracting bad guys who are starting to create malicious code for other systems. (For a few examples, see BlackHoleRAT, HellRaiser RAT, and a fake-alert Read more…
Fluffy bunnies, cute chicks, Easter eggs… Does that sound dangerous to you? You wouldn’t think it was dangerous by the looks of it. It is so sweet I would just want to download it and send it on to a few dozen of my friends. This looks sweet, does it not? The subject line says Read more…
Tags: botnet, Consumer, counter identity theft, Cybercrime, easter, Family Safety, malware, McAfee Consumer Threat Alert, scam
Avoid clicking on links and images in malware-laden emails, McAfee warns Computer users around the world received phony Easter greetings with links to malware on Monday, according to research by McAfee Labs™. Cybercrooks often take advantage of current events to grab computer users’ attention, and this time they are using the upcoming Christian holiday to Read more…
Tags: botnet, Consumer, counter identity theft, Cybercrime, easter, Family Safety, malware, McAfee Consumer Threat Alert, scam
Posts tagged under botnet