Botnet activity in H1 2018: Multifunctional bots becoming more widespread

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2018/08/botnet-activity-in-h1-2018-multifunctional-bots-becoming-more-widespread/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Kaspersky Lab researchers have published a report on botnet activity in the first half of 2018, analysing more than 150 malware families and their modifications circulating through 60,000 botnets around the world. One of the most remarkable things uncovered by the research was growing international demand for multifunctional malware that is not designed for specific purposes but is flexible enough to perform almost any task.

Botnets – nets of compromised devices used in criminal activity – are harnessed by criminals to spread malware and facilitate DDoS and spam attacks. Using Kaspersky Lab’s Botnet Tracking technology, the company’s researchers continuously monitor botnet activity to prevent forthcoming attacks, or to nip a new type of banker Trojan in the bud.  The technology works by emulating a compromised device, trapping the commands received from threat actors that are using the botnets to distribute malware.  This provides the researchers with valuable malware samples and statistics.

Eir’s Customer Data of 37,000 Clients Exposed After a Theft of a Laptop

he personal data of more than 37,000 Eir customers has been exposed includes the names, Email address, phones numbers and account numbers. Eir is a fixed, mobile, broadband telecommunications company based in Ireland.

According to a report released by the company, no financial data was exposed in the breach and the company has also reported to the Protection Commissioner. The stolen data was used by a third party in a targeted attack.

16-Year-Old Teen Hacked Apple Servers, Stole 90GB of Secure Files

Well, there's something quite embarrassing for Apple fans.

Though Apple servers are widely believed to be unhackable, a 16-year-old high school student proved that nothing is impossible.

The teenager from Melbourne, Australia, managed to break into Apple servers and downloaded some 90GB of secure files, including extremely secure authorized keys used to grant login access to users, as well as access multiple user accounts.

Belarus “shame scam” hits South Africa

A class of extortion scam which is known as the “Belarus Phishing Expedition” has reared its head in South Africa.

It attempts to trick people into paying money to prevent embarrassing information about them appearing online.

The scam requires a con-artist to trick you into believing that they have compromising information about you, and that they will send it to your friends and family unless you pay them.

The Dark Web Market: The Cost Of Malware, Exploits And Services

You may have an inkling about what goes on in the dark web. In case you do not know already, the dark web is the part of the internet not indexed by search engines. It therefore requires special software to access it’s content. The dark web market is a spot for the buying and selling of illicit materials. Forget drugs and weapons for now though, let’s focus on malicious software and services. Users with bad intent are trading these, and making a lot of money out of it.

A recent report by Positive Technologies, a security firm, highlights the flourishing dark web market. The report is based off 25 dark web trading platforms with over 3 million users. Over 10000 ads were analyzed. Interesting results were drawn.