All news with #botnet tag

Tsundere Botnet Expands Using Game Lures and Node.js

🛡️ Kaspersky researcher Lisandro Ubiedo details an expanding Windows-focused botnet named Tsundere that retrieves and executes arbitrary JavaScript from remote command-and-control servers. The threat, active since mid‑2025, has been distributed via fake MSI installers and PowerShell scripts that deploy Node.js, install dependencies (ws, ethers, and pm2) and establish persistence. Operators fetch WebSocket C2 addresses from an Ethereum smart contract to rotate infrastructure, while a control panel enables artifact building, bot management, proxying, and an on-platform marketplace.

Operation Endgame Disrupts Multiple Malware Networks

🛡️ A coordinated law enforcement operation led by Europol and Eurojust between November 10–13, 2025 disrupted major malware infrastructures, including Rhadamanthys Stealer, Venom RAT, and an Elysium botnet. Authorities seized 20 domains, took down more than 1,025 servers and arrested a primary suspect in Greece on November 3. Europol said the dismantled networks encompassed hundreds of thousands of infected machines and several million stolen credentials, and that the infostealer operator had access to roughly 100,000 cryptocurrency wallets.

Spike in Automated Botnet Attacks Targeting PHP, IoT

🔍 Cybersecurity researchers warn of a sharp rise in automated botnet campaigns targeting PHP servers, IoT devices, and cloud gateways. The Qualys Threat Research Unit says Mirai, Gafgyt, Mozi and similar botnets are exploiting known CVEs, misconfigurations and exposed secrets to recruit vulnerable systems. Attackers leverage active debug interfaces (for example using '/?XDEBUG_SESSION_START=phpstorm'), scan from cloud providers to mask origin, and turn compromised routers and DVRs into residential proxies. Recommended mitigations include prompt patching, removing development tools from production, securing secrets with AWS Secrets Manager or HashiCorp Vault, and restricting public cloud access.

PolarEdge Botnet Targets Cisco, ASUS, QNAP Routers

🔐 Cybersecurity researchers have detailed PolarEdge, a TLS-based ELF implant used to conscript Cisco, ASUS, QNAP and Synology routers into a botnet. The backdoor implements an mbedTLS v2.8.0 server with a custom binary protocol, supports a connect-back and interactive debug mode, and stores its obfuscated configuration in the final 512 bytes of the ELF. Operators use anti-analysis techniques, process masquerading and file-moving/deletion routines; a forked watchdog can relaunch the payload if the parent process disappears.

Botnet Uses 100,000 IPs in Massive RDP Attack Wave

🛡️ GreyNoise researchers uncovered a massive RDP attack wave using more than 100,000 IP addresses across over 100 countries, which analysts link to a single large botnet targeting U.S. Remote Desktop infrastructure. The attackers used two enumeration techniques — an RD Web Access timing attack to infer valid usernames and an RDP Web Client login enumeration to guess credentials — enabling efficient compromise while reducing obvious alerts. GreyNoise published a dynamic blocklist template, microsoft-rdp-botnet-oct-25, and recommends that organizations review logs for unusual RDP access patterns and automatically block associated IPs at the network edge.

Researchers Warn RondoDox Botnet Expands Exploitation

🔍 Trend Micro warns that RondoDox botnet campaigns have significantly expanded their targeting, exploiting more than 50 vulnerabilities across over 30 vendors to compromise routers, DVR/NVR systems, CCTV devices, web servers and other networked infrastructure. First observed by Trend Micro on June 15, 2025 via exploitation of CVE-2023-1389, and first documented by Fortinet FortiGuard Labs in July 2025, the threat now leverages a loader-as-a-service model that co-packages RondoDox with Mirai/Morte payloads, accelerating automated, multivector intrusions. The campaign includes 56 tracked flaws—18 without CVEs—spanning major vendors and underscores urgent detection and remediation needs.

Actors Hide Behind Tor in Exposed Docker API Campaign

🛡️ Attackers are exploiting exposed Docker APIs (port 2375) by launching containers that install Tor and retrieve secondary payloads from hidden services. Researchers at Trend Micro and Akamai observed the activity evolve from opportunistic cryptomining into a more capable dropper that establishes persistent SSH access, creates cron jobs to block API access, and executes a Go-based agent that scans and propagates to additional hosts. The agent also removes competitor containers and contains dormant logic for Telnet and Chrome remote debugging exploitation.

Cloudflare Mitigates Record 11.5 Tbps UDP Flood Attack

🛡️ Cloudflare said it automatically mitigated a record-setting volumetric DDoS attack that peaked at 11.5 Tbps and reached 5.1 billion packets per second; the UDP flood lasted roughly 35 seconds and reportedly originated largely from Google Cloud. The company reported it has autonomously blocked hundreds of hyper‑volumetric L3/4 attacks in recent weeks, underscoring a sharp surge in such events. Security researchers warn these massive traffic floods can be used as a smoke screen for follow-on targeted exploits.