The Case of the Missing Crime Syndicate

Picture the following scene. It’s a dark, smokey room. Gathered around a table are the godfathers of several powerful crime families. They’ve huddled together to discuss their next big move. It sounds like yet another gangster movie, but it looks like something similar has happened in the world of online criminals. According to this news story, it looks like the Russian Business Network may have relocated to China. Never heard of the RBN? Well they’re not exactly your friendly neighborhood hosting provider.

According to Spamhaus RBN is “Among the world’s worst spammer, child-pornography, malware, phishing and cybercrime hosting networks. Provides “bulletproof hosting”, but is probably involved in the crime too”. RBN was the subject of an article in the Washington Post on October 13, 2007, where Symantec and other security firms claim RBN provides hosting for many illegal activities, including identity theft and phishing. The article quotes a spokesman for Kaspersky Labs that the owners of RBN might not have directly violated the law as they primarily provide hosting services; their customers are apparently the ones violating laws. 

The Internet is the most significant technological advancement in my lifetime, but with the benefits its offered there are also those who use it as a tool for mischief. To be a successful spammer or to have a successful phishing site requires a hosting provider that at best looks the other way or at worst supports your activities.

One alleged “phishing” gang, known as the Rock Group, which used the company’s hosting service, is estimated to have made $150 million last year by tricking people into providing bank account details.

The RBN is also said to have developed dozens of fake anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to dupe people into giving it access to their computers in the mistaken belief that they were protecting themselves from online threats.

The RBN’s activities are so notorious that VeriSign, one of the world’s biggest Internet security companies, has dubbed it “the baddest of the bad.”

What really irritates me is that these losers don’t even have the courage to commit their crimes face-to-face. I can just imagine some greasy, smelly neck-bearded geek trying to hold up a little old lady and getting a beat down by granny. Hell, these guys may even have political connections.

It has recently been alleged that the founder and leader of the organisation, known as ‘Flyman’, is related to a “powerful and well-connected” Russian politician. In light of this, it is entirely possible that recent cyber-terrorism activities, such as the May 2007 denial of service attacks in Estonia, may have been co-ordinated by or out-sourced to such an organisation. Although this is currently unproven, intelligent estimates suggest this may be the case.

Like any other criminal organization, they’re highly organized.

Now considering the fact that the RBN and their accomplices are practically big business it may seem like there’s nothing we as developers can do. That’s not the case. We’ve all got family or friends who aren’t exactly tech-savy.

• Warn them about phishing scams. Make sure they know their bank or credit card company isn’t going to contact them via email requesting information.

• Help them install a virus scanner and anti-spyware software from reputable companies (AVG, AdAware, etc).

• Warn them about not downloading and running sofware they find online.

• Install Firefox for them and get them off of IE if they’re on Windows.

It only takes a little prudence and knowledge to avoid becoming yet another cyber-victim. As a the resident geek in your family (don’t deny it - you know you are), help make it just a little more difficult for these losers to find more victims.