Cybercrims dump swag on open botnet server

Everyone knows Trojans steal personal data, but the discovery of a server containing more than 1.4 gigabytes of stolen business and personal info brings home the real extent of the problem.

Data on the so-called crimeware server compromised 5,388 unique log files containing both email communications and web-related data. Net security firm Finjan reports that information on the server included business and customer data from 40 top-tier global businesses, including healthcare providers. It reckons the data was amassed in less than a month using two strains of malware - Backdoor IRCBot-CDO and Trojan-PSW Agent-AFA.

The hacker-controlled server was running a botnet command and control application. In addition, the compromised system was used as a "drop site" for private information. Compromised information included patient data, business email and bank customer data.

The compromised data was left in plain view on the hacker-controlled server, without any access restrictions or encryption. Thus the sensitive information was available to anyone who came across the server, not just the hackers who controlled it.

The compromised data and the Command and Control applications were detected by Finjan using its code inspection technology. It reckons the compromised data represents the tip of a "cybercrime iceberg".

Finjan notified the affected financial institutions - located in the US, Europe and India - and law enforcement agencies prior to issuing an alert on the attack on Tuesday. ®