Huge spam botnet Grum is taken out by security researchers

BBC ^ | 7/12/12

[LibWhacker]

A botnet which experts believe sent out 18% of the world's spam email has been shut down, a security firm said.

Grum's control servers were mainly based in Panama, Russia and Ukraine.

Security company FireEye and spam-tracking service SpamHaus worked with local internet service providers (ISPs) to shut down the illegal network.

A botnet is a network of computers that has been hijacked by cybercriminals, usually by using malware.

"Grum's takedown resulted from the efforts of many individuals," wrote Atif Mushtaq, a security researcher with FireEye.

"This collaboration is sending a strong message to all the spammers: Stop sending us spam. We don't need your cheap Viagra or fake Rolex."

'Bad news'

Mr Mushtaq wrote that on Monday he learned that a Dutch server involved in Grum had been shut down. He said it "at least made a dent" in the botnet.

On Tuesday, the command and control servers (CnCs) in Panama had been shut down.

"This good news was soon followed by some bad news," he explained.

"After seeing that the Panamanian server had been shut down, the bot herders moved quickly and started pointing the rest of the CnCs to new secondary servers in Ukraine. Spam in an inbox Filtering technology is improving, but spam is still the scourge of many an inbox

"So at one point, I was thinking that all we needed was to take down one Russian server, but right in front of my eyes, the bot herders started pointing their botnet to new destinations."

[LibWhacker]

This story is almost two months old. Anyone notice a decrease in email spam? Personally, I've experienced a huge increase. From a few items every day to perhaps a hundred. Hang them all!

[OldMissileer]

I have had Verizon DSL since 2004. Through all those years I would receive maybe one or two spam messages per month (I never checked to see what was in my Spam folder at Verizon, I use Outlook).

Anyway, since about two or three months ago I have been receiving five or six Spam emails per day in my In-box and Outlook is blocking about ten per day and placing them in the Junk folder..

[SERKIT]

How about shutting down the “card services” autodialers? I got a call at 5:30pm the other night. When I saw who it was, I followed the prompts to get to talk to a real person. When they answered I asked: “Is everything all right?” in the most concerned voice I could muster. They said, why ‘yes’. I said “Good, because your daily ‘last chance’ call was late today and I was concerned”.

[apoliticalone]

I agree. They need to face lengthy prison time on a devil’s island. Scum of the earth. The priority of international law enforcement should be prosecuting these scum instead of protecting Hollywood.

[sneakers]

Haha!! I get the daily ‘last chance’ call as well!

[Vinnie]

How about shutting down the “card services” autodialers?

Boy, isn't that the truth.
I re-upped my 'do not call' and since then we have been inundated with calls. Most from 'lower your interest rate' type calls.
Every one is from a different phone number. Next to impossible to track.
We have gotten as many as 5 in one day.

[cableguymn]

it’s your last chance for the day. ;)

[The Great RJ]

I would like to see “Rachel” the recorded voice of the auto dialer Card Member Services, be dumped into any angry Arab mob, wearing a skimpy bikini with a denigrating reference to Mohammad on the butt.

[Lazamataz]

"We don't need your cheap Viagra or fake Rolex."

HEY WAIT A SECOND! I sure do! Now I won't be able to get any!

[jayrunner]

Several months ago, the “lower interest rate” calls numbered 4 or so daily, including Sundays. I wrote down the numbers and entered them on Google search. I found a forum in which someone had tracked the numbers to a Pa company and listed the owners address. Another poster had notified the company that he was charging $1,000 to answer any further calls. He maintained a log listing times, numbers, and dates of calls. Then he filed suit on the local small claims court and got a judgement against the company’s owners.

Of course, he didn’t get paid, but the calls stopped. The key is to notify the callers of your policy to charge $1,000 per call. I did so and also wrote a letter to the owner, notifying him of my policy and signed it with my telephone number.

Believe it or not, the calls stopped.

IMHO, the do not call list is worthless.

[LibWhacker]

LOL, you always crack me up, Laz. Thanks!

[Vinnie]

Thanks for the info.
I have a list of 8 numbers I wrote down in 2 days.
Problem is every one of them is in a different area code.