Botnet Rises in the Name of Chuck Norris

Just when you think old-school network bots are dead, a group of cybercriminals revives them from them grave in the name of Chuck Norris. Dubbed the “Chuck Norris botnet,” based on the Italian comment in its source code, in nome di Chuck Norris (translation: “in the name of Chuck Norris”), this botnet infects vulnerable DSL modems and routers to spread a worm Trend Micro detects as WORM_IRCBOT.ABJ.
This worm tries to gain access to a target router by guessing the router’s configuration password using brute force. It may also spread via shared networks by exploiting a known Microsoft vulnerability, MS03-039 Buffer Overrun in RPCSS Service. The worm’s routines make users who are connected to the same network or router at risk of being infected.
This worm also has backdoor capabilities that allows attackers to execute remote command on affected systems, which include downloading and executing other malware and launching denial-of-service (DOS) attacks against other systems. Ultimately, its main goal is still to gain profit from unknowing users by stealing personally identifiable information (PII) and credentials to access certain websites, particularly online banking sites.
Its infection routine via router may be unusual for most bots of its kind, which usually infects computers. But it is not the first time that bots have used modems and routers as a propagation platform. Trend Micro has, (continue reading...)