Google has filed a lawsuit against the founders of Glupteba Enterprise Dmitry Staroviko and Alexander Filippov, accusing them of cryptojacking and data theft.
Google reported on a civil lawsuit filed on December 7 against Russian citizens Dmitry Staroviko and Alexander Filippov, as well as 15 unidentified persons in using the Glupteba botnet on victims’ computers for hidden mining, stealing personal data of users in order to sell to third parties, purchase goods and services using credit cards and selling access to jailbroken PCs to third parties.
The corporation said the botnet uniquely used Bitcoin’s decentralization to defend against traditional tools designed to prevent such malicious activity. The analytical company Chainalysis explained that part of the code for the command and control servers of the botnet is located on the Bitcoin blockchain. This allows the botnet to recover every time the infected server is shut down by the security service. According to experts, this is a unique case of using blockchain to protect malware.
“This is the first known case of a botnet using this approach.”
In its lawsuit, Google claims that it is necessary to stop the activities of the company of defendants Dmitry Staroviko and Alexander Filippov “Glupteba Enterprise”, which uses a botnet based on Bitcoin for hacker attacks and cryptojacking. Google was able to identify three specific Bitcoin addresses that the botnet was using to recover and took action to disrupt the botnet. But the fact that the botnet uses Bitcoin means that operators can restore it at any time. In the final part of the lawsuit, Google accuses the Russians of fraud and racketeering.
“The Glupteba botnet cannot be completely eradicated without neutralizing its blockchain-based infrastructure.”
Bloomberg “unexpectedly discovered” a “crypto-laundry” in Moscow City last month. A month later, the American cybersecurity company Recorded Future announced that part of the ransomware’s money goes through Moscow City. Antivirus company ESET said in a recent report that Russia continues to top the list of countries with the highest cybercrime rates.
