The Cutwail botnet, founded around 2007,[1] is a botnet mostly involved in sending spam e-mails. The bot is typically installed on infected machines by a Trojan component called Pushdo.[2] It affects computers running Microsoft Windows.[3]
In June 2009 it was estimated that the Cutwail botnet was the largest botnet in terms of the amount of infected hosts. Security provider MessageLabs estimated that the total size of the botnet was around 1.5 to 2 million individual computers, capable of sending 74 billion spam messages a day, or 51 million every minute, equal to 46.5% of the worldwide spam volume.[2][4]
In February 2010 the botnet's activities were slightly altered when it started a DDoS attack against 300 major sites, including the CIA, FBI, Twitter and PayPal. The reasons for this attack weren't fully understood, and some experts described it as an "accident", mainly due to the lack of damage and disruption, along with the infrequency of the attacks.[5]
Cutwail is a fairly simple botnet. The bots connect directly to the command and control server, and receive instructions about the emails they should send. After they are done with their task, the bots report back to the spammer exact statistics on the number of emails that were delivered, and on which and how many errors were reported.[2]
Operationsedit
The Cutwail botnet is known as "0bulk Psyche Evolution" in the underground market. Spammers can rent an instance of the botnet for a fee, and use it to send their own spam campaigns. The services offered by the botnet were advertised on the Russian underground forum "spamdot.biz", that was taken down in 2010. As of June 2010, at least 8 different spam groups were using the botnet to deliver junk mail.[2]
^ abcdeBrett Stone-Gross; Thorsten Holz; Gianluca Stringhini; Giovanni Vigna (March 29, 2011). (PDF). USENIX. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^Harry Waldron (February 2, 2010). . Computer Security News (blog). Archived from the original on 2010-08-16.
^Kirk, Jeremy (2010-02-03). "Pushdo botnet pummels more than 300 Web sites". Itbusiness.ca. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
External linksedit
Technical study of the Pushdo trojan
April 18, 2024
cutwail, botnet, founded, around, 2007, botnet, mostly, involved, sending, spam, mails, typically, installed, infected, machines, trojan, component, called, pushdo, affects, computers, running, microsoft, windows, contents, history, structure, operations, also. The Cutwail botnet founded around 2007 1 is a botnet mostly involved in sending spam e mails The bot is typically installed on infected machines by a Trojan component called Pushdo 2 It affects computers running Microsoft Windows 3 Contents 1 History 2 Structure 3 Operations 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editIn June 2009 it was estimated that the Cutwail botnet was the largest botnet in terms of the amount of infected hosts Security provider MessageLabs estimated that the total size of the botnet was around 1 5 to 2 million individual computers capable of sending 74 billion spam messages a day or 51 million every minute equal to 46 5 of the worldwide spam volume 2 4 In February 2010 the botnet s activities were slightly altered when it started a DDoS attack against 300 major sites including the CIA FBI Twitter and PayPal The reasons for this attack weren t fully understood and some experts described it as an accident mainly due to the lack of damage and disruption along with the infrequency of the attacks 5 In August 2010 researchers from University of California Santa Barbara and Ruhr University Bochum attempted to take down the botnet and managed to take offline 20 of the 30 Command and Control servers that the botnet was using 2 Structure editCutwail is a fairly simple botnet The bots connect directly to the command and control server and receive instructions about the emails they should send After they are done with their task the bots report back to the spammer exact statistics on the number of emails that were delivered and on which and how many errors were reported 2 Operations editThe Cutwail botnet is known as 0bulk Psyche Evolution in the underground market Spammers can rent an instance of the botnet for a fee and use it to send their own spam campaigns The services offered by the botnet were advertised on the Russian underground forum spamdot biz that was taken down in 2010 As of June 2010 at least 8 different spam groups were using the botnet to deliver junk mail 2 See also editOperation Bot Roast McColo Srizbi botnet BotnetReferences edit Robert Jaques October 1 2007 Angelina Jolie nudes fuel malware spike V3 co uk a b c d e Brett Stone Gross Thorsten Holz Gianluca Stringhini Giovanni Vigna March 29 2011 The Underground Economy of Spam A Botmaster s Perspective of Coordinating Large Scale Spam Campaigns PDF USENIX Archived from the original PDF on July 25 2014 Retrieved January 25 2013 Backdoor Win32 Pushdo A Microsoft Harry Waldron February 2 2010 Pushdo Botnet New DDOS attacks on major web sites Computer Security News blog Archived from the original on 2010 08 16 Kirk Jeremy 2010 02 03 Pushdo botnet pummels more than 300 Web sites Itbusiness ca Retrieved 2010 04 21 External links editTechnical study of the Pushdo trojan Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cutwail botnet amp oldid 1145202295, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
