- Jun 9, 2013
- 6,720
Security researchers have disrupted an online criminal operation they estimated drew $30 million per year pushing ransomware on unsuspecting people browsing the Internet.
The takedown was performed by investigators from Cisco Systems' Talos security unit, which was researching the Angler Exploit kit. The hack-by-numbers tool is sold in underground crime forums to people who don't want to go through the hassle of developing and testing exploits themselves. Angler is one of the most potent of the exploit kits available, with the ability to successfully infect an estimated 40 percent of the end users it targets using attack code that surreptitiously exploits vulnerabilities in browsers and browser plugins. In most cases, the security flaws have already been patched, but, in some cases, the kits exploit zero-day vulnerabilities for which there is no currently available fix.
Full article. Cisco shuts down million-dollar ransomware operation
The takedown was performed by investigators from Cisco Systems' Talos security unit, which was researching the Angler Exploit kit. The hack-by-numbers tool is sold in underground crime forums to people who don't want to go through the hassle of developing and testing exploits themselves. Angler is one of the most potent of the exploit kits available, with the ability to successfully infect an estimated 40 percent of the end users it targets using attack code that surreptitiously exploits vulnerabilities in browsers and browser plugins. In most cases, the security flaws have already been patched, but, in some cases, the kits exploit zero-day vulnerabilities for which there is no currently available fix.
Full article. Cisco shuts down million-dollar ransomware operation
