Discovery
Browse Storyflo. Across every vertical.
Stories from independent and tier-1 publishers. Filter by vertical, search by topic, listen anywhere — your audio sidekick handles the rest.
Latest stories · security
Pro-Ukraine BO Team and Head Mare hackers appear to team up in attacks against Russia
Researchers at Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said they identified overlapping infrastructure and tools used by both groups — including command-and-control systems operating on the same com…
Feds Disrupt IoT Botnets Behind Huge DDoS Attacks
The U.S. Justice Department, in collaboration with Canadian and German authorities, has successfully dismantled the infrastructure of four significant botnets that compromised over three million Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These botnets, named Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid, and Mossad, were responsible for launching extensive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that targeted various entities, including those owned by the Department of Defense. The operation involved seizing multiple domains and servers linked to these attacks. The botnets are accused of executing hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks, often accompanied by extortion demands. Victims reported substantial financial losses due to these attacks. Aisuru, the oldest botnet, was noted for issuing over 200,000 attack commands, while JackSkid and Kimwolf were also significant contributors to the wave of attacks. The DOJ's initiative aims to prevent further infections of compromised devices and to curb the botnets' capacity to launch future attacks. The investigation involved collaboration with the FBI and various technology companies, highlighting a coordinated effort to address the growing threat posed by these criminal networks. Aisuru emerged in late 2024 and quickly became notorious for its record-breaking attacks, eventually leading to the creation of Kimwolf, which utilized a unique method to infect devices behind internal network protections. Despite efforts to contain Kimwolf's spread, new botnets have since adopted similar techniques, indicating a persistent challenge in securing IoT devices. The recent disruption of these botnets coincided with law enforcement actions in Canada and Germany targeting individuals believed to be operating them. Reports have identified a 22-year-old Canadian and a 15-year-old German as key suspects in the operation of the Kimwolf botnet, but further details on the investigation remain limited.