A hacker made hundreds of thousands of euros by infecting the devices of victims who didn’t realize it.
The FBI Cyber Division has caught quite a fish! On November 14, the American federal agency announced the dismantling of a gigantic botnet network. This had infected thousands of devices running Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and was used to cover the illegal activities of malicious actors, in total anonymity.
For a few hundred dollars a month
When it comes to hiding your activity on the Internet, we first think of taking refuge behind a VPN. However, the most accessible solutions used by most consumers are generally not enough when it comes to procedures that are not… legal. In this type of case, criminals resort to less conventional methods, including botnets.
In any case, this is what a certain Sergei Makinin proposed for several years. Between June 2019 and December 2022, this Russian-Moldovan national managed to infect nearly 23,000 devices around the world to create a formidable botnet. This was mainly used as a proxy network. highly anonymous ”, available for rent for a few hundred dollars per month.
The operation was quite lucrative for Makinin, who reportedly earned over $550,000 in cryptocurrencies. However, the hacker did not get off so easily, as he was found and then arrested by the police. If his crypto wallet is obviously confiscated, he risks three charges and 30 years of imprisonment.
Criminal activity in keeping with the times
The FBI surrounded itself with several international organizations and agencies to carry out its investigation. It was also supported by Bitdefender teams, who provided cybersecurity advice, resources and instructions. In fact, the company has been tracking this botnet, called Interplanetary Storm (or IPStorm), since 2020, and even published a study on it in October of the same year.
Although the FBI has closed Makinin’s network, other similar structures continue to operate or may be created in the near future. “ It is no secret that today, many criminal activities are carried out or enabled by cyber means », Comments Joseph González, head of the FBI office in San Juan, from where the investigation was carried out. “ Cybercriminals seek to remain anonymous and feel a sense of security because they hide behind keyboards, often thousands of miles from their victims. »
Users usually do not realize that one of their devices is infected by a botnet. These operate discreetly, simply consuming hardware resources and slowing down victims’ internet connections when they are in full activity. The best way to protect yourself, as the FBI points out, is to keep your devices and the antivirus solutions installed on them up to date. And, of course, to be vigilant about the software, applications and files you download and install.
Source : HackRead
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