Fergie's Tech Blog

RSA 2010: Hackers Using Legitimate Cloud Services for Dark Ends

Iain Thomson writes on V3.co.uk:

Hacking groups are using legitimate cloud offerings such as Amazon Web Services to facilitate malware creation and password cracking, delegates at RSA 2010 were told.

The Russian Business Network (RBN), one of the most powerful and extensive malware and hacking organisations, has been buying time on Amazon's EC2 platform to build malware and attack passwords, according to Ed Skoudis, founder of security consultancy InGuardians.

"Bad guys can use the cloud to improve operations just as we can. The RBN has been using Amazon for the same kind of benefits as the good guys," he said.

"It gives them enormous password hacking tools, and can be used in massive search engine optimisation poisoning attacks."

The RBN, based in northern Russia, is one of the biggest and most professional hacking groups in the world.

posted by Fergie @ 3/05/2010 03:52:00 PM