Skip to main content

Here's what a VPN can't protect you from (but you need to use it)

The abbreviation " VPN " has slowly become established among average Internet users, which is certainly good, but the problem is that people have started to see VPN as the ultimate solution to all problems.

Grum botnet eliminated!

Grum botnet eliminated!

A botnet that experts believe sent 18% of the world's spam e-mail messages was recently shut down, according to a report by a security firm.

Grum's control servers were mostly based in Panama, Russia, and Ukraine. Security company FireEye and spam monitoring service SpamHaus worked in cooperation with local Internet service providers and shut down the illegal network. A botnet is a network of computers that have been hijacked by cybercriminals, in most cases using malicious software.

FireEye security researcher, Atif Mushtaq, states that the takedown of Grum is the result of the joint effort of a large number of people and that this cooperation sends a strong message to all spammers. Mushtaq states that at the beginning of the week he found out that the Dutch server that was part of Grum was also shut down, which was followed by positive news about the shutdown of the server in Panama, however, Grum started its activities again, but this time from the territory of Ukraine.

Shutting down Groom represents one of the largest efforts to neutralize botnets worldwide. Russian Georgiy Avanesov was jailed for four years in May this year for being the mastermind behind the Bredolab botnet, which is believed to have generated more than £80,000 a month in revenue.

Microsoft has been working to disable Zeus, another major network responsible for the theft of several million pounds. FireEye also worked with other experts around the world to put as much pressure as possible on local ISPs to suspend illegal operations. Mushtaq states that more than 20,000 computers are still part of the botnet, but that without active CnC, they too will soon become ineffective.

The downing of Grom represents a big step forward in combating the spread of botnets around the world, Mushtaq believes, since there is no paradise for such activities anywhere. Most of the spam botnets that kept their CNC in the USA and Europe have moved to countries like Panama, Russia, and Ukraine thinking that nobody can do anything to them in these territories but now it is possible to pressure local internet providers to deny them service and thus help eliminate such illegal networks.

Comments

Popular this month

New Google mobile internet saving application - Datally

I wrote an article on how to save internet traffic on an Android device and I suggested the Onavo Extend and Opera Max apps because they were the most popular back then. Meanwhile, Opera Max has been discontinued and Onavo has been completely redesigned and is now a VPN application with the option to save internet traffic. Their compression technology is probably now used by Facebook in its application because they bought Onavo - link . Google has decided to seize the opportunity and "push" with a new application called " Datally ".

SOPA and PIPA are slowly losing support, the protest yielded results

Controversial U.S. anti-piracy laws, known by the acronyms SOPA and PIPA lost the support of eight members of Congress after major protests by the Internet community. Support was denied, among others, by Marco Rubio of Florida, a rising star of the Republican Party, and his party colleague Roy Blunt of Missouri - who were among the signatories of the bills.

How to change IMEI number on Android phone?

IMEI is an abbreviation of "international mobile equipment identity" and each mobile phone should have a unique IMEI number. You cannot change this number with the operator, but you can temporarily change it on your device. It allows the operator to accurately identify your device and thus enable/disable network services. Also, you can use the possibility of changing the IMEI number, at least for a short time, if you know exactly what you want, but I leave those ideas to you because this is an educational article.

Twitter is celebrating its sixth birthday

Exactly six years ago, one of the founders of Twitter posted his first tweet - " just setting up my twttr ". Although the popularity of this service was modest in the first few years, today Twitter has over 500 million users who send tweets, and messages 140 characters long.

Wireless phone chargers - where, which and how to buy?

Wireless chargers are purchased separately from the device itself, and the user often does not know which Wireless charger to buy or where. Of course, they can be bought from us, not everywhere, but some stores sell them,  which I already wrote about .