Publicity Leads to Crime Hubs Downfall

By Dave Nixon

According to a new whitepaper published by volunteer group, the Shadowserver Foundation, publicising the existence of criminal malware networks populating the Internet may be one of the best and simplest ways in fight against them.

The foundation, which analyzes the actions of the Russian Business Network (RBN), a chief crimeware hub which suddenly disappeared from the Internet in November, after its existence received worldwide exposure.

The authors propose that it was not the action of the multiple small groups of anti-malware volunteers, but the straightforward fact that the RBN’s notoriety had developed to an embarrassing magnitude that drove the hub into extinction.

The paper, which otherwise investigates the technical aspects of the hubs various activities, states “On reflection it is disconcerting that it seems to have taken the visibility from the Washington Post and Wired articles to bring the necessary pressure to bear on this network to affect its disappearance”.

Prior to its downfall, the RBN was held responsible for hosting a wide array of malware actions - including Trojans, spam, child porn and specific hacking events under the premise of a genuine business based in Russia.

Embattled by numerous anti-malware organisations including the UK’s Spamhaus.org, the network was capable of persisting without impediment until its infamy reached the mainstream press. Principally significant were numerous of articles run in The Washington Post in October.

“While public movement against the network took considerably longer than it should have in our opinion, it is worth noting that around late August the temperament of researchers toward publicly outing known rogue networks seemed to significantly warm. And, from a distance, this tactic seems to have been overall very effective.”