[ISN] Pirated Windows 7 RC builds botnet

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 04:40:17 -0500 (CDT)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10240643-83.html

By Matthew Broersma
Security
CNet News
May 14, 2009

A pirated version of Windows 7 Release Candidate infected with a Trojan 
horse has created a botnet with tens of thousands of bots under its 
control, according to researchers at security firm Damballa.

The software, which first appeared on April 24, spread as quickly as 
several hundred new bots per hour, and controlled roughly 27,000 bots by 
the time Damballa took over the network's command and control server on 
May 10, the firm said Tuesday.

The pirated software was spread via popular piracy sites and online 
forums, Damballa said.

The software is primarily designed to download and install other 
malicious packages under a "pay-per-install" scheme, under which the 
botmasters are paid based on the number of other pieces of malware they 
cause to be installed, Damballa said.

[...]


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Received on Fri May 15 2009 - 02:40:17 PDT

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