We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
A LONE HACKER is earning between €55,000 and €91,000 per month by using an automated attack tool to send around one million spam emails a day, according to researchers from security firm Trustwave.
The emails contain links to bogus products and services, which some receivers respond to and send money. The money is directed back to the hacker.
The hacker is using an RIG exploit kit to infect computers, Trustwave researchers said.
Exploit kits are attack tools commonly traded on underground online black markets that let criminals, who may not have strong computer skills, mount cyber attacks.
Trustwave researchers reported detecting a growth in the number of RIG exploit kit infections in a threat advisory, noting that the attack tool is being used to infect over 27,000 computers per day.
The rise in infections happened after the creator of RIG released an upgrade for the attack tool. Trustwave said the majority of the attacks are spreading malware.
“Generally speaking, RIG 3.0 customers deliver various payloads through RIG, each depending on a specific customer, but the distinct top payload delivered here is the Tofsee spambot,” read the threat advisory.
A spambot is a form of malware that enslaves victim computers and forces them to send spam messages. Trustwave reported the majority of the infections stem from one RIG exploit kit user codenamed Customer X.
Customer X manages to infect about 500,000 machines per month with the Tofsee payload. The going rate for spam campaigns is approximately $0.50 USD per 1,000 successfully sent emails.
“This particular payload of Tofsee was observed in our labs attempting to send approximately one million emails per day from a single bot, of which about 2,000 emails were successfully sent.”
Trustwave estimates the attacks are earning Customer X up to €91,000 per month.
Combating exploit kits is an ongoing goal of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and UK National Crime Agency.
The FBI led an international takedown operation against a hacking forum known to be distributing exploit kits,known online as Darkode, in July.
A new, more secure, version of Darkode appeared less than two weeks after the operation. It is believed to be run by one of the old site’s administrators.
Glad this filth is off the street and the police haven’t forgotten to go after real threats and dangerous criminals instead of shutting down all the plant nurseries they have been busy doing all year
Those nurseries as you call them are still illegal. Guardrail enforce the law they don’t make them
Plant nurseries? Are you for real?
Gardai* there are no police in Tallaght
The Gardaí is the name of the police force. If they are not police, what are they?
Excellent work. Keep up the pressure on all those who deal in illegal drugs.
Leagalise everything that’s illegal and tax it and the world will be right again??? Pilib you are deluded!!
Cue the recriminations and gunfire.
In next weeks news , 2 post offices robbed, a tiger kidnapping on a bank and and atm pulled out of a wall with a jcb .
The war on drugs just causes more violent crime.
So what just let them continue their illegal trade? Sure why prosecute criminals at all so?
Yes all because whatever gang he belonged to will have to raise funds to cover this bust. Not to mention the people who will more than likely be shot for providing information to the Gaurds. Best of legalize it all. Tax it and educate. It had worked in Portugal.
Legalise heroin? Yeah sure. What could possibly go wrong? Daft comment.
@Pilib
They didn’t legalize it in Portugal. They decriminalised it, but it is still illegal to sell. Decriminalising means that you can have personal usage amounts on you, but the selling of it is illegal. I think that is a good idea as it allows people with serious addiction problems to get help without being labelled a criminal.
These steps in Portugal have proved very successful and it is something that should be considered here, in my humble opinion.
I doubt €100k worth of it was for personal use!
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Non-TCF/GVL Vendors
have your say