{"id":14580,"date":"2013-10-01T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T18:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/?p=14580"},"modified":"2023-12-01T14:06:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T21:06:04","slug":"newly-launched-http-based-botnet-setup-service-empowers-novice-cybercriminals-bulletproof-hosting-capabilities-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/2013\/10\/01\/newly-launched-http-based-botnet-setup-service-empowers-novice-cybercriminals-bulletproof-hosting-capabilities-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly launched \u2018HTTP-based botnet setup as a service\u2019 empowers novice cybercriminals with bulletproof hosting capabilities &#8211; part two"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The emergence and sophistication of DIY botnet generating tools has lowered the entry barriers into the world of cybercrime. With ever-increasing professionalism and QA (Quality Assurance) applied by cybercriminals, in combination with \u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/16\/bulletproof-tdsdoorwayspharmaspamwarez-hosting-service-operates-in-the-open-since-2009\/\">bulletproof cybercrime-friendly hosting providers<\/a>, <\/strong>these tactics represent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/03\/diy-malicious-domain-name-registering-service-spotted-in-the-wild\/\"><strong>key success factors for an increased life cycle of any given fraudulent\/malicious campaign<\/strong><\/a>. Throughout the years, we&#8217;ve witnessed the adoption of multiple bulletproof hosting infrastructure techniques for increasing the life cycle of campaigns,with a clear trend towards diversification, rotation or C&amp;C communication techniques, and most importantly, the clear presence of a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) type of pragmatic mentality; especially in terms of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.damballa.com\/downloads\/a_pubs\/Damballa_ExecScent.pdf\"><strong>utilizing HTTP based C&amp;C communication channels for botnet operation<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In this post, I&#8217;ll discuss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/24\/newly-launched-http-based-botnet-setup-as-a-service-empowers-novice-cybercriminals-with-bulletproof-hosting-capabilities\/\"><strong>a managed botnet setup as a service<\/strong><\/a>, targeting novice cybercriminals who are looking for remote assistance in the process of setting up the C&amp;C infrastructure for their most recently purchased DIY botnet generation tool. I&#8217;ll also discuss the relevance of these services in the content of the (sophisticated) competition, that&#8217;s been in business for years, possessing the necessary know-how to keep a customer&#8217;s fraudulent\/malicious campaign up and running.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sample screenshot of the (international) underground market proposition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Botnet_Setup_Managed_Setup_Bulletproof_Hosting_Malware_Bot_Malicious_Software_Service.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"1890\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14583 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Botnet_Setup_Managed_Setup_Bulletproof_Hosting_Malware_Bot_Malicious_Software_Service.png\" alt=\"Botnet_Setup_Managed_Setup_Bulletproof_Hosting_Malware_Bot_Malicious_Software_Service\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-en.webroot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Botnet_Setup_Managed_Setup_Bulletproof_Hosting_Malware_Bot_Malicious_Software_Service.png 800w, https:\/\/blog-en.webroot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Botnet_Setup_Managed_Setup_Bulletproof_Hosting_Malware_Bot_Malicious_Software_Service-433x1024.png 433w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the static amount of $50, the cybercriminal behind the managed botnet setup service will configure, register HTTP based C&amp;C domains, as well as host them for one year, and currently supports 11 different DIY malware\/botnet generating tools. The service&#8217;s value proposition is similar to that of a recently profiled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webroot.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/11\/managed-malicious-java-applets-hosting-service-spotted-wild\/\"><strong>managed bulletproof hosting service for malicious Java applets<\/strong><\/a>, in terms of lacking the necessary know-how and experience to ensure smooth (cybercriminal) operations.\u00a0Does a cybercriminal need to take advantage of one of the market leading (Russian) bulletproof cybercrime-friendly services in order to increase the life cycle of his campaigns? Not necessarily, as the botnet generating tools offered by this service can be best described as &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/blog\/security\/research-small-diy-botnets-prevalent-in-enterprise-networks\/4485\"><strong>beneath the radar<\/strong><\/a>&#8216; botnets, that is, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/photos\/inside-the-botnets-that-never-make-the-news\/303596\">small botnets that rarely make the news headlines<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We expect to continue observing similar (international) underground marketplace propositions, with more cybercriminals realizing the market segment potential for products and services targeting novice cybercriminals exclusively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The emergence and sophistication of DIY botnet generating tools has lowered the entry barriers into the world of cybercrime. With ever-increasing professionalism and QA (Quality Assurance) applied by cybercriminals, in combination with \u00a0bulletproof cybercrime-friendly hosting providers, these tactics represent\u00a0key success factors for an increased life cycle of any given fraudulent\/malicious campaign. Throughout the years, we&#8217;ve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":17052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3005],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[5111,14017,15981,15675,15733,15989,15671,5411,9617,15991,13329,14511,15085,15995,15983,6157,15997,15985],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14580"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32405,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14580\/revisions\/32405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14580"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}