US And Partners Bring Down Russian Hacking 'Botnet'

Cyber sleuths from the US, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain have cooperated to take down a global network of internet-connected devices that had been hacked by Russian cyber criminals and used for malicious purposes, said the U.S. Justice Department.

The network, known as the "RSOCKS" botnet, comprised millions of hacked computers and devices worldwide, including "Internet of Things" gadgets like routers and smart garage openers, the department said in a statement.

"It is believed that the users of this type of proxy service were conducting large scale attacks against authentication services, also known as credential stuffing, and anonymizing themselves when accessing compromised social media accounts, or sending malicious email, such as phishing messages," said Justice Department.

RSOCKS users paid a fee of between $30 and $200 per day to route malicious internet activity through compromised devices to mask or hide the true source of the traffic, the department said.

(Reuters)