Probably the most infamous suppliers of abuse-friendly “bulletproof” webhosting for cybercriminals has began routing its operations via networks run by the Russian antivirus and safety agency Kaspersky Lab, KrebsOnSecurity has realized.
Safety specialists say the Russia-based service supplier Prospero OOO (the triple O is the Russian model of “LLC”) has lengthy been a persistent supply of malicious software program, botnet controllers, and a torrent of phishing websites. Final yr, the French safety agency Intrinsec detailed Prospero’s connections to bulletproof providers marketed on Russian cybercrime boards beneath the names Securehost and BEARHOST.
The bulletproof internet hosting supplier BEARHOST. This screenshot has been machine-translated from Russian. Picture: Ke-la.com.
Bulletproof hosts are so named once they earn or domesticate a repute for ignoring authorized calls for and abuse complaints. And BEARHOST has been cultivating its repute since at the very least 2019.
“In the event you want a server for a botnet, for malware, brute, scan, phishing, fakes and every other duties, please contact us,” BEARHOST’s advert on one discussion board advises. “We utterly ignore all abuses with out exception, together with SPAMHAUS and different organizations.”
Intrinsec discovered Prospero has courted a few of Russia’s nastiest cybercrime teams, internet hosting management servers for a number of ransomware gangs over the previous two years. Intrinsec stated its evaluation confirmed Prospero continuously hosts malware operations akin to SocGholish and GootLoader, that are unfold primarily by way of pretend browser updates on hacked web sites and sometimes lay the groundwork for extra critical cyber intrusions — together with ransomware.
A pretend browser replace web page pushing cellular malware. Picture: Intrinsec.
BEARHOST prides itself on the power to evade blocking by Spamhaus, a company that many Web service suppliers around the globe depend on to assist determine and block sources of malware and spam. Earlier this week, Spamhaus stated it noticed that Prospero was all of the sudden connecting to the Web by routing via networks operated by Kaspersky Lab in Moscow.
Replace, March 1, 9:43 a.m. ET: In a written assertion, Kaspersky stated it’s conscious of the general public declare concerning the firm allegedly offering providers to a “bulletproof” webhosting supplier. Right here is their full assertion:
“Kaspersky denies these claims as the corporate doesn’t work and has by no means labored with the service supplier in query. The routing via networks operated by Kaspersky doesn’t by default imply provision of the corporate’s providers, as Kaspersky’s automated system (AS) path may seem as a technical prefix within the community of telecom suppliers the corporate works with and offers its DDoS providers.”
“Kaspersky pays nice consideration to conducting enterprise ethically and guaranteeing that its options are used for his or her unique function of offering cybersecurity safety. The corporate is at the moment investigating the state of affairs to tell the corporate whose community might have served as a transit for a “bulletproof” webhosting supplier in order that the previous takes the required measures.”
Kaspersky started promoting antivirus and safety software program in america in 2005, and the corporate’s malware researchers have earned accolades from the safety group for a lot of essential discoveries through the years. However in September 2017, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) barred U.S. federal businesses from utilizing Kaspersky software program, mandating its removing inside 90 days.
Cybersecurity reporter Kim Zetter notes that DHS didn’t cite any particular justification for its ban in 2017, however media experiences quoting nameless authorities officers referenced two incidents. Zetter wrote:
In line with one story, an NSA contractor creating offensive hacking instruments for the spy company had Kaspersky software program put in on his house laptop the place he was creating the instruments, and the software program detected the supply code as malicious code and extracted it from his laptop, as antivirus software program is designed to do. A second story claimed that Israeli spies caught Russian authorities hackers utilizing Kaspersky software program to go looking buyer methods for information containing U.S. secrets and techniques.
Kaspersky denied that anybody used its software program to seek for secret info on buyer machines and stated that the instruments on the NSA employee’s machine had been detected in the identical approach that each one antivirus software program detects information it deems suspicious after which quarantines or extracts them for evaluation. As soon as Kaspersky found that the code its antivirus software program detected on the NSA employee’s machine weren’t malicious packages however supply code in growth by the U.S. authorities for its hacking operations, CEO Eugene Kaspersky says he ordered staff to delete the code.
Final yr, the U.S. Commerce Division banned the sale of Kaspersky software in the U.S. efficient July 20, 2024. U.S. officers argued the ban was wanted as a result of Russian regulation requires home firms to cooperate in all official investigations, and thus the Russian authorities might pressure Kaspersky to secretly collect intelligence on its behalf.
Phishing knowledge gathered final yr by the Interisle Consulting Group ranked internet hosting networks by their measurement and focus of spambot hosts, and found Prospero had the next spam rating than every other supplier by far.
AS209030, owned by Kaspersky Lab, is offering connectivity to the bulletproof host Prospero (AS200593). Picture: cidr-report.org.
It stays unclear why Kaspersky is offering transit to Prospero. Doug Madory, director of Web evaluation at Kentik, stated routing information present the connection between Prospero and Kaspersky began initially of December 2024.
Madory stated Kaspersky’s community seems to be hosting several financial institutions, together with Russia’s largest — Alfa-Financial institution. Kaspersky sells providers to assist shield clients from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults, and Madory stated it may very well be that Prospero is solely buying that safety from Kaspersky.
But when that’s the case, it doesn’t make the state of affairs any higher, stated Zach Edwards, a senior menace researcher on the safety agency Silent Push.
“In some methods, offering DDoS safety to a well known bulletproof internet hosting supplier could also be even worse than simply permitting them to connect with the remainder of the Web over your infrastructure,” Edwards stated.
