Finjan's research unveils botnet trading platform for hacked PCs.(Security News and Products)

Finjan Inc. have announced that its Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC) managed to research a trading network and botnet, where compromised PCs are bought and sold for profit. In the second issue of its "Cybercrime Intelligence Report" of 2009, Finjan shows the operations of the Golden Cash network consisting of an entire trading platform of malware-infested PCs. The trading platform utilizes all necessary components (buyer side, seller side, attack toolkit, and distribution via "partners"). This advanced trading platform marks a new milestone in the cybercrime evolution. By turning compromised PCs from a one-time source of profit into a digital asset that can be bought and sold again and again, cybercriminals are maximizing their illegal gains.

The cybercrime intelligence report covers the following:

* On the buyer side of the trading platform, batches of 1,000 malware-infected PCs can be purchased for $5 up to $100; depending on territory

* Partners are paid for successfully distributing the bot and collecting FTP-credentials of legitimated websites through the infected PCs

* On the seller side of the trading platform, cybercriminals sell batches of 1,000 malware-infected PCs for $25 up to $500

* Compromised malware infected PCs may be infected with additional malware each time they are purchased by a new "owner"

* For attacks and exploitations, an exploit toolkit with obfuscated code and the Trojan Zalupko attack toolkit are provided "As reported by Finjan before, cybercriminals keep on looking for improved methods to generate profit. In addition to stealing data and selling them on, they now also trade compromised PCs to as many buyers, sellers and partners as possible. Looking at the list of compromised PCs we found, it is clear that no individual, corporate or governmental PC is safe," said Finjan.

In the recently released report, Finjan also indicates how organizations can detect and deal with infections, and how they can prevent their corporate PCs from being compromised and turned into bots.

SecureTwitter Free to All Users

Finjan Inc. has responded to reports on thousands of Twitter messages (tweets) embedded with malicious URLs targeting users and businesses.

Utilizing its patented real-time web security technologies, Finjan provides users and businesses with FREE access to Secure Twitter which is built into the latest version of SecureBrowsing. SecureTwitter is powered by Finjan's SecureBrowsing plug-in that provides users with look-ahead alerts on the safety of URLs showing in their Web 2.0 sites, Search results and Web Email applications such as: Twitter, Bebo, digg, Slashdot, Myspace, Blogger, MSN, Gmail, Google and Yahoo search.

"Reading the recent reports about the proliferation of tweets containing criminal malware, we have taken immediate action to release the SecureTwitter plug-in which is powered by Finjan's Secure Browsing as a free download to all users. SecureTwitter is effective, simple to use and based upon proven effective technology" commented Finjan.

http://securebrowsing.finjan.com

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