Coreflood Crime Ring and Botnet Shut Down
A massive, international crime ring known using a virus known as Coreflood that may have stolen as much as $100 million was shut down by U.S. officials on Wednesday, the Department of Justice said.
More than 2 million Windows computers were infected with the keylogging virus, which was used in a massive fraud scheme placing them in a botnet, a Justice Department statement reads.
Coreflood and the botnet would then take passwords, user names, and more sensitive data like banking information. Those operating the crime ring would then use that information to steal money.
For instance, one computer that was infected enabled the crime ring operators to illegally monitor a persons Internet usage and was subsequently able to steal data, and make fraudulent transactions from that users bank to another account.
Not only average users were targeted by the scheme but also corporate computer networks were infected.
The seizure of the Coreflood servers and Internet domain names is expected to prevent criminals from using Coreflood or computers infected by Coreflood for their nefarious purposes, said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein for the District of Connecticut.
The government said that the botnet had been operating for the past decade and stole tens of millions of dollars.
A botnet is a series of servers that engage in spreading malicious software to either send out spam or steal data. Computers that are infected by the software are referred to then as a bot, the Justice Department said.
The U.S. district attorney in Connecticut filed a complaint against 13 foreign nationals who were not named, accusing them of fraud.
Law enforcement will continue to use innovative and responsible actions in our fight against cyber criminals and at the same time, we urge consumers to ensure they are continually taking prudent measures to guard against harm, including routinely updating anti-virus security protection, Assistant At! torney G eneral Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division stated.
More than 2 million Windows computers were infected with the keylogging virus, which was used in a massive fraud scheme placing them in a botnet, a Justice Department statement reads.
Coreflood and the botnet would then take passwords, user names, and more sensitive data like banking information. Those operating the crime ring would then use that information to steal money.
For instance, one computer that was infected enabled the crime ring operators to illegally monitor a persons Internet usage and was subsequently able to steal data, and make fraudulent transactions from that users bank to another account.
Not only average users were targeted by the scheme but also corporate computer networks were infected.
The seizure of the Coreflood servers and Internet domain names is expected to prevent criminals from using Coreflood or computers infected by Coreflood for their nefarious purposes, said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein for the District of Connecticut.
The government said that the botnet had been operating for the past decade and stole tens of millions of dollars.
A botnet is a series of servers that engage in spreading malicious software to either send out spam or steal data. Computers that are infected by the software are referred to then as a bot, the Justice Department said.
The U.S. district attorney in Connecticut filed a complaint against 13 foreign nationals who were not named, accusing them of fraud.
Law enforcement will continue to use innovative and responsible actions in our fight against cyber criminals and at the same time, we urge consumers to ensure they are continually taking prudent measures to guard against harm, including routinely updating anti-virus security protection, Assistant At! torney G eneral Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division stated.
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