911 S5 Botnet Dismantled and Its Administrator Arrested in Coordinated International Operation

[welkin]

Jurisdiction

Other

An army of 19 million infected computers

FBI Takes Down Massive Global Army of Zombie Computer Devices


FBI Takes Down Massive Global Army of Zombie Computer Devices

If you follow the FBI links, you can check your computer to see if you are infected.

 

[Tax Counsel]

It's disheartening to see that the botnet was able to run for 10 years before law enforcement was able to bring these guys down. Fortunately, it appears that only Windows users with outdated versions got the bot vpn programs installed on their computers. Security software only works when people bother to keep the programs current, and avoid downloading stuff from companies they've never heard of. A free VPN program from some sketchy company I never heard of and that has no history? That's a hard pass to me. It should be a big warning flag to everyone, if they just take a minute to think about it. I use a Mac so my computer wasn't affected by this particular malware. But Macs can be attacked, too, so Mac (and iPhone) users need to be just as vigliant as the Windows/Android world.

 

[cbg]

I have to use a VPN on my work computer, since it's the only way to access the home systems remotely and they want us working remotely these days. But it's an in-house VPN and our systems are SCOURED by IT regularly.

I will not access a VPN on my personal computer. Not even one from a company I trust.