Hackers use Twitter to control botnets
Friday, August 14, 2009
A web security researcher has discovered accounts on Twitter that act as command and control (C&C) centers for directing botnets - networks of malware-infected PCs that can be directed to send spam or launch denial of service attacks.
Researcher Jose Nazario of security firm Arbor Networks said he discovered Twitter accounts that use status messages (tweets) to send out links containing new commands or executables for the botnet to download and run. The botnet uses the RSS feed to get updates from Twitter, Nazario said in a blog post.
One such account with the Twitter profile name upd4t3 has been used to as part of an information stealing scheme.
Nazario said the account is presently live but under review by Twitter and is "just one of what appear to be a handful of Twitter C&C accounts."
Hackers typically use rogue servers to operate their botnets, which can be rented out to other cybercriminals for activity ranging from sending spam to stealing bank account or other information from PCs.
Botnets can also be used to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), which can slow or stop websites from working by overwhelming a site with traffic.
Twitter itself was downed by DDoS attacks last week and again this week.
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