Category Archives: A Little Sunshine

Includes investigative blog posts meant to shine a light on the darker corners of the Internet.

Flying the Fraudster Skies

January 11, 2012
28 Comments

Given the heightened security surrounding air travel these days, it may be hard to believe that fraudsters would try to board a plane using stolen tickets. But incredibly, there are a number of criminal travel agencies doing business in the underground, and judging from the positive feedback left by patrons, business appears to be booming.

The tickets often are purchased at the last minute and placed under the criminal buyer’s real name. The reservations are made using either stolen credit cards or hijacked accounts belonging to independent contractors in the travel industry. Customers are charged a fraction of the cost of the tickets and/or reservations, typically between 25 and 35 percent of the actual cost.

Virtual Sweatshops Defeat Bot-or-Not Tests

January 9, 2012
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Jobs in the hi-tech sector can be hard to find, but employers in one corner of the industry are creating hundreds of full-time positions, offering workers on-the-job training and the freedom to work from home. The catch? Employees will likely work for cybercrooks and may make barely enough money in a week to purchase a Happy Meal at McDonald’s.

Pharma Wars: Mr. Srizbi vs. Mr. Cutwail

January 5, 2012
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The last post in this series introduced the world to “Google,” an alias chosen by the hacker in charge of Cutwail — currently the world’s largest spam botnet. Google rented his crime machine to members of SpamIt, an organization that paid spammers to promote rogue Internet pharmacy sites. This made Google a top dog, but also a primary target of other botmasters selling software to SpamIt, particularly the hacker known as “SPM,” the guy behind the infamous Srizbi botnet.

Pharma Wars: ‘Google,’ the Cutwail Botmaster

January 1, 2012
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Previous stories in my Pharma Wars series have identified top kingpins behind the world’s largest spam botnets. Today’s post includes never-before-published information on “Google,” the secretive hacker in charge of the infamous Cutwail botnet.

Pro Grade (3D Printer-Made?) ATM Skimmer

December 7, 2011
71 Comments

In July 2011, a customer at a Chase Bank branch in West Hills, Calif. noticed something odd about the ATM he was using and reported it to police. Authorities who responded to the incident discovered a sophisticated, professional-grade ATM skimmer that they believe was made with the help of a 3D printer.

Download.com Bundling Toolbars, Trojans?

December 6, 2011
54 Comments

It wasn’t long ago that I felt comfortable recommending CNET’s download.com as a reputable and trustworthy place to download software. I’m going to have to take back that advice: Unfortunately, CNET now is bundling invasive and annoying toolbars with much of the software on its site, even some open-source software whose distribution license prohibits such activity.

I first became aware of this after reading mailing list posting by Gordon “Fyodor” Lyon, the software developer behind the ever useful Nmap network security scanner. Lyon is upset because download.com, which has long hosted his free software for download, recently began distributing Nmap and many other titles with a “download installer,” that bundles titles with browser toolbars like the Babylon toolbar.