Fergie's Tech Blog

Russian Hosting Firm Denies Criminal Ties, Says It May Sue Blacklister

Ryan Singel writes on Wired News:

Speaking to the Western press for the first time, a Russia-based web-hosting firm pilloried by security companies as a free zone for online crime insists that it's really just misunderstood.

"We can't understand on which basis these organizations have such an opinion about our company," Tim Jaret of the Russian Business Network says in an e-mail interview. "We can say that this is subjective opinion based on these organizations' guesswork." Jaret's e-mail signature identifies him as working in RBN's abuse department.

Security researchers and anti-spam groups say the St. Petersburg-based RBN caters to the worst of the internet's scammers, renting them servers used for phishing and malware attacks, all the while enjoying the protection of Russian government officials. A report by VeriSign called the business "entirely illegal."

"They just figured out that in Russia no one will prosecute them, or if they do, they can pay them off," says Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer of the SANS Internet Storm Center. Ullrich says RBN maintains a veneer of legitimacy by paying lip service to abuse complaints, but nothing more.

posted by Fergie @ 10/15/2007 05:10:00 PM