Category Archives: Other

Is Your Computer Part of ‘The Largest Botnet Ever?’

May 29, 2024
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today said they arrested the alleged operator of 911 S5, a ten-year-old online anonymity service that was powered by what the director of the FBI called “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.” The arrest coincided with the seizure of the 911 S5 website and supporting infrastructure, which the government says turned computers running various “free VPN” products into Internet traffic relays that facilitated billions of dollars in online fraud and cybercrime.

Treasury Sanctions Creators of 911 S5 Proxy Botnet

May 28, 2024
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury today unveiled sanctions against three Chinese nationals for allegedly operating 911 S5, an online anonymity service that for many years was the easiest and cheapest way to route one’s Web traffic through malware-infected computers around the globe. KrebsOnSecurity identified one of the three men in a July 2022 investigation into 911 S5, which was massively hacked and then closed ten days later.

Twitter’s Clumsy Pivot to X.com Is a Gift to Phishers

April 10, 2024
33 Comments

On April 9, Twitter/X began automatically modifying links that mention “twitter.com” to redirect to “x.com” instead. But over the past 48 hours, dozens of new domain names have been registered that demonstrate how this change could be used to craft convincing phishing links — such as fedetwitter[.]com, which is currently rendered as fedex.com in tweets.

Happy 14th Birthday, KrebsOnSecurity!

December 29, 2023
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KrebsOnSecurity celebrates its 14th year of existence today! I promised myself this post wouldn’t devolve into yet another Cybersecurity Year in Review. Nor do I wish to hold forth about whatever cyber horrors may await us in 2024. But I do want to thank you all for your continued readership, encouragement and support, without which I could not do what I do.

BlackCat Ransomware Raises Ante After FBI Disruption

December 19, 2023
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The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disclosed today that it infiltrated the world’s second most prolific ransomware gang, a Russia-based criminal group known as ALPHV and BlackCat. The FBI said it seized the gang’s darknet website, and released a decryption tool that hundreds of victim companies can use to recover systems. Meanwhile, BlackCat responded by briefly “unseizing” its darknet site with a message promising 90 percent commissions for affiliates who continue to work with the crime group, and open season on everything from hospitals to nuclear power plants.

Happy 13th Birthday, KrebsOnSecurity!

December 29, 2022
68 Comments

KrebsOnSecurity turns 12 years old today. That’s a crazy long time for an independent media outlet these days, but then again I’m liable to keep doing this as long as they keep letting me!

Thanks to your readership and support, I was able to spend more time in 2022 on in-depth investigative stories — the really satisfying kind with the potential to affect positive change. Some of that work is highlighted in the 2022 Year in Breaches review below.

The Equifax Breach Settlement Offer is Real, For Now

December 20, 2022
78 Comments

Millions of people likely just received an email or snail mail notice saying they’re eligible to claim a class action payment in connection with the 2017 megabreach at consumer credit bureau Equifax. Given the high volume of reader inquiries about this, it seemed worth pointing out that while this particular offer is legit (if paltry), scammers are likely to soon capitalize on public attention to the settlement money.

Final Thoughts on Ubiquiti

August 31, 2022
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Last year, I posted a series of articles about a purported “breach” at Ubiquiti. My sole source for that reporting was the person who has since been indicted by federal prosecutors for his alleged wrongdoing – which includes providing false… Read More »

Happy 12th Birthday, KrebsOnSecurity.com!

December 29, 2021
95 Comments

KrebsOnSecurity.com celebrates its 12th anniversary today! Maybe “celebrate” is too indelicate a word for a year wracked by the global pandemics of COVID-19 and ransomware. Especially since stories about both have helped to grow the audience here tremendously in 2021. But this site’s birthday also is a welcome opportunity to thank you all for your continued readership and support, which helps keep the content here free to everyone.

Conti Ransom Gang Starts Selling Access to Victims

October 25, 2021
13 Comments

The Conti ransomware affiliate program appears to have altered its business plan recently. Organizations infected with Conti’s malware who refuse to negotiate a ransom payment are added to Conti’s victim shaming blog, where confidential files stolen from victims may be published or sold. But sometime over the past 48 hours, the cybercriminal syndicate updated its victim shaming blog to indicate that it is now selling access to many of the organizations it has hacked.