Google sues two Russian nationals for possession of terrorists | Technology News

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, Google named two defendants, Dmitry Starovikov and Alexander Filippov, as well as 15 unnamed individuals.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is suing two Russian nationals who are said to be part of a terrorist network that has secretly infiltrated more than a million computers and devices worldwide, sparking “modern and unlimited crime.”

In a petition filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Southern District in New York, Google named two defendants, Dmitry Starovikov and Alexander Filippov, as well as 15 unnamed individuals. Google alleges that the defendants created a “botnet” called Glupteba, to use it for illegal activities, including theft and unauthorized use of Google users’ accounts.

A botnet is a network of Internet-connected tools that have been compromised by a malware program. When called together, they are able to do the will of the thief, often the owners of the weapons do not realize that their machines have been stolen. Many of these tools can confuse many people on the site, use malware as a sign of entry, sell fraudulent cards online and give access to other cyber criminals without permission.

Glupteba’s botnet is unique in that it is “technically sophisticated,” using blockchain technology to protect itself from fraud, Google said in a statement. At any time, Glupteba’s botnet power can be used to shoot redemption or distribute denial, Google said.

Chainalysis Inc., a blockchain legal analysis firm, said its products and services were used to search the botnet.

Whenever Glupteba’s command-and-control servers – which hackers use to monitor disruptive networks – are shut down, it can check the blockchain to find the new address of the control-and-control server, according to Chainalysis.

“This approach makes Glupteba botnet extremely difficult to compromise using popular cybersecurity methods,” which focus on blocking command-and-control server environments, according to Chainalysis. “This is the first known case of a botnet using this method.”

This is the first time that Google has followed a botnet, a spokesman for Mountain View, California said in an email. “We are doing this to protect internet users and to send messages to cyber criminals that we will not allow this.”

The spokesman said the company had worked with the US Department of Justice on the investigation. The Ministry of Justice declined to comment. Starovikov and Filippov were not immediately available for comment.

The senior expert took this to court to “make a case for cyber criminals,” the spokesman said. To “show what they know and the tools they use.”

Google said Starovikov and Filippov were connected to Glupteba with servers used to set up their Gmail addresses.

“Glupteba is known for stealing user information and information, digging for cryptocurrencies for infected people, and for setting up proxies to help other people online through infected machines and routers,” Google Advisor Halimah DeLaine Prado and Vice President of Google Engineering Royal Hansen wrote. in a blog post.

In June 2020, security company Sophos released a report on Glupteba’s malware program, noting that it “had repeatedly interrupted efforts to remove infected machines,” researcher Luca Nagy wrote at the time. “Glupteba also takes several steps to reduce and avoid exposure.”

Google said it was bringing this under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, as well as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and others, to disrupt the botnet, prevent it from crashing, and restore security.

Some of the most notorious cybercriminals have ties to Russia, which is accused of providing them with a safe haven. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied responsibility for the attacks.