Don’t fear the Reaper: Botnet ‘easy to stop,’ says security researcher

The new Internet of Things botnet variously known as Reaper, IoT_Reaper or IoTroop should be easy to stop if it ever attacks, a security researcher says. Reaper uses fixed, hardcoded domain and internet addresses for its command and control, or C2, servers — meaning they can easily be cut off by service providers, Radware security researcher Pascal Geenens wrote earlier this week. “The control servers, the architecture and the methods of operation of the Reaper botnet have been uncovered and are known,” Geenens wrote. “It uses a fixed domain and IP addresses for its C2 servers, which should make blacklisting or blackholing effective to stop any attacks it might attempt.” Although the hacker that controls the botnet — the “herder” — has proved successful at building it up, the botnet has not yet been used for attacks. But there’s widespread concern nonetheless about how powerful a weapon it could be. The Mirai botnet brought the […]

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