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	"created_at": "2026-04-07T02:19:59.736839Z",
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	"title": "Russian Botnet Disrupted in International Cyber Operation",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
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	"plain_text": "Russian Botnet Disrupted in International Cyber Operation\r\nPublished: 2022-06-16 · Archived: 2026-04-07 02:08:28 UTC\r\nAssistant U. S. Attorney Jonathan I. Shapiro (619) 546-8225    \r\nNEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – June 16, 2022\r\nSAN DIEGO – The U.S. Department of Justice, together with law enforcement partners in Germany, the\r\nNetherlands and the United Kingdom, have dismantled the infrastructure of a Russian botnet known as RSOCKS\r\nwhich hacked millions of computers and other electronic devices around the world.\r\nA botnet is a group of hacked internet-connected devices that are controlled as a group without the owner’s\r\nknowledge and typically used for malicious purposes. Every device that is connected to the internet is assigned an\r\nInternet Protocol (IP) address.\r\nAccording to a search warrant affidavit, unsealed today in the Southern District of California, and the operators’\r\nown claims, the RSOCKS botnet, operated by Russian cybercriminals, comprised millions of hacked devices\r\nworldwide. The RSOCKS botnet initially targeted Internet of Things (IoT) devices. IoT devices include a broad\r\nrange of devices—including industrial control systems, time clocks, routers, audio/video streaming devices, and\r\nsmart garage door openers, which are connected to, and can communicate over, the internet, and therefore, are\r\nassigned IP addresses. The RSOCKS botnet expanded into compromising additional types of devices, including\r\nAndroid devices and conventional computers.\r\n“The RSOCKS botnet compromised millions of devices throughout the world,” said U.S. Attorney Randy\r\nGrossman. “Cyber criminals will not escape justice regardless of where they operate. Working with public and\r\nprivate partners around the globe, we will relentlessly pursue them while using all the tools at our disposal to\r\ndisrupt their threats and prosecute those responsible.”  Grossman thanked the prosecution team, the FBI and the\r\nDepartment of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section for their excellent\r\nwork on this case.\r\n“This operation disrupted a highly sophisticated Russia-based cybercrime organization that conducted cyber\r\nintrusions in the United States and abroad,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy. “Our fight against\r\ncybercriminal platforms is a critical component in ensuring cybersecurity and safety in the United States. The\r\nactions we are announcing today are a testament to the FBI’s ongoing commitment to pursuing foreign threat\r\nactors in collaboration with our international and private sector partners.”\r\nA legitimate proxy service provides IP addresses to its clients for a fee. Typically, the proxy service provides\r\naccess to IP addresses that it leases from internet service providers (ISPs). Rather than offer proxies that RSOCKS\r\nhad leased, the RSOCKS botnet offered its clients access to IP addresses assigned to devices that had been hacked.\r\nThe owners of these devices did not give the RSOCKS operator(s) authority to access their devices in order to use\r\ntheir IP addresses and route internet traffic. A cybercriminal who wanted to utilize the RSOCKS platform could\r\nuse a web browser to navigate to a web-based “storefront” (i.e., a public web site that allows users to purchase\r\nhttps://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/russian-botnet-disrupted-international-cyber-operation\r\nPage 1 of 2\n\naccess to the botnet), which allowed the customer to pay to rent access to a pool of proxies for a specified daily,\r\nweekly, or monthly time period. The cost for access to a pool of RSOCKS proxies ranged from $30 per day for\r\naccess to 2,000 proxies to $200 per day for access to 90,000 proxies.\r\nOnce purchased, the customer could download a list of IP addresses and ports associated with one or more of the\r\nbotnet’s backend servers. The customer could then route malicious internet traffic through the compromised\r\nvictim devices to mask or hide the true source of the traffic. It is believed that the users of this type of proxy\r\nservice were conducting large scale attacks against authentication services, also known as credential stuffing, and\r\nanonymizing themselves when accessing compromised social media accounts, or sending malicious email, such as\r\nphishing messages.\r\nAs alleged in the unsealed warrant, FBI investigators used undercover purchases to obtain access to the RSOCKS\r\nbotnet in order to identify its backend infrastructure and its victims. The initial undercover purchase in early 2017\r\nidentified approximately 325,000 compromised victim devices throughout the world with numerous devices\r\nlocated within San Diego County. Through analysis of the victim devices, investigators determined that the\r\nRSOCKS botnet compromised the victim device by conducting brute force attacks. The RSOCKS backend servers\r\nmaintained a persistent connection to the compromised device. Several large public and private entities have been\r\nvictims of the RSOCKS botnet, including a university, a hotel, a television studio, and an electronics\r\nmanufacturer, as well as home businesses and individuals. At three of the victim locations, with consent,\r\ninvestigators replaced the compromised devices with government-controlled computers (i.e., honeypots), and all\r\nthree were subsequently compromised by RSOCKS. The FBI identified at least six victims in San Diego.\r\nThis case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan I. Shapiro of\r\nthe Southern District of California and Ryan K.J. Dickey, Senior Counsel for the Department of Justice Criminal\r\nDivision’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section.  The Department of Justice extends its appreciation\r\nto the authorities of Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, the Justice Department’s Office of\r\nInternational Affairs and private sector cybersecurity company Black Echo, LLC for their assistance provided\r\nthroughout the investigation.\r\nIn September 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the FBI’s new strategy for countering cyber\r\nthreats. The strategy focuses on imposing risk and consequences on cyber adversaries through the FBI’s unique\r\nauthorities, world-class capabilities, and enduring partnerships. Victims are encouraged to report the incident\r\nonline with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) www.ic3.gov.\r\nSource: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/russian-botnet-disrupted-international-cyber-operation\r\nhttps://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/russian-botnet-disrupted-international-cyber-operation\r\nPage 2 of 2",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"ETDA"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/russian-botnet-disrupted-international-cyber-operation"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"russian-botnet-disrupted-international-cyber-operation"
	],
	"threat_actors": [],
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