Category Archives: conficker

Alleged Spam Kingpin ‘Severa’ Extradited to US

Posted on by

Peter Yuryevich Levashov, a 37-year-old Russian computer programmer thought to be one of the world’s most notorious spam kingpins, has been extradited to the United States to face federal hacking and spamming charges.

Levashov, who allegedly went by the hacker name “Peter Severa,” or “Peter of the North,” hails from St. Petersburg in northern Russia, but he was arrested last year while in Barcelona, Spain with his family.

Authorities have long suspected he is the cybercriminal behind the once powerful spam botnet known as Waledac (a.k.a. “Kelihos”), a now-defunct malware strain responsible for sending more than 1.5 billion spam, phishing and malware attacks each day. Continue reading Alleged Spam Kingpin ‘Severa’ Extradited to US→

Alleged Spam Kingpin ‘Severa’ Extradited to US

Posted on by

Peter Yuryevich Levashov, a 37-year-old Russian computer programmer thought to be one of the world’s most notorious spam kingpins, has been extradited to the United States to face federal hacking and spamming charges.

Levashov, who allegedly went by the hacker name “Peter Severa,” or “Peter of the North,” hails from St. Petersburg in northern Russia, but he was arrested last year while in Barcelona, Spain with his family.

Authorities have long suspected he is the cybercriminal behind the once powerful spam botnet known as Waledac (a.k.a. “Kelihos”), a now-defunct malware strain responsible for sending more than 1.5 billion spam, phishing and malware attacks each day. Continue reading Alleged Spam Kingpin ‘Severa’ Extradited to US→

Conficker worm still spreading despite being nearly 10 years old

Posted on by

Nearly a decade after it first burst across the world, the Conficker worm remains one of the internet’s most prevalent malware threats, according to research by the security firm Trend Micro. Conficker, also known as Downad, was first spotted in 2008 when it infected as many as 15 million machines. Experts saw it as one of the worst and most sophisticated cybersecurity crises to date. The malware rapidly propagates across networks via network shares, removable media or software vulnerabilities. European businesses and governments quickly lost millions due to disruptions. By technological standards, Conficker’s initial attack phase occurred a long time ago. This year, however, saw 2,564,618 successful infections. The pattern is clear: Anyone using old, unpatched machines remain vulnerable and are hit with abandon. “Although it is not as exciting to the public eye as more modern malware such as WannaCry and Petya, it remains a persistent threat – and will continue to be as […]

The post Conficker worm still spreading despite being nearly 10 years old appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading Conficker worm still spreading despite being nearly 10 years old→

NSA’s DoublePulsar Kernel Exploit In Use Internet-Wide

Posted on by

Scans show tens of thousands of Windows servers infected with the DoublePulsar kernel exploit leaked by the ShadowBrokers two weeks ago. Continue reading NSA’s DoublePulsar Kernel Exploit In Use Internet-Wide→