Why Jabber reigns across the Russian cybercrime underground

Much of the Russian cybercrime underworld is an enigma, but one technology serves as a crucial common link across all of it: Jabber. In a space of cutting-edge tech, creativity and crime, the 18-year-old instant messenger is the most popular communication tool among Russian-speaking cybercriminals, according to new research from the security firm Flashpoint. It’s how hackers make deals, share intelligence and offer tech support on their malware products. While it already reigns in Russian communities, Jabber is simultaneously rising in popularity for cybercriminals around the world. It’s a testament not only to the quality of the technology, but also to the influence of hacking trends set in Russia. “In the cybercriminal economy, Jabber is seen as the gold standard for communication,” Leroy Terrelonge III, a senior researcher at the security firm Flashpoint, told CyberScoop. Jabber (also known as XMPP or Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) is an open-source, federated instant messenger with thousands of independent servers and […]

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