Defying geography and law enforcement, the Internet's "Axis of Evil" is anchored by the Russian Business Network (RBN) and supported by a series of organized criminal cyber networks and ISPs that look the other way, according to a report released today on Internet Evolution. Other points along this so-called axis with RBN include Cernel, Esthost, EstDomains, Hostfresh, and Rove Digital, among many others.
While spam email is the most visible manifestation of the axis at work, it's also one of the milder byproducts, according to Mary Jander, ThinkerNet Editor for Internet Evolution. "Their real stock-in-trade is much more sinister: child pornography, illegal online pharmacies, stolen credit card information, phony virus protection software, botnets, phishing, money laundering, and distributed denial-of-service attacks," Jander reports.
"Cracking the Internet's Axis of Evil," Internet Evolution's report looks at how these organizations flourish under the radar, relying on a myriad of loopholes in the law; and most insidiously, use a sort of "plausible deniability" when confronted with evidence of malevolent and illegal activity. Click here to see the report.
Catching the culprits behind these "badware nets" won't be easy. It will require new laws and greater cooperation among ISPs, regulators, and governments. In the meantime, the forensics and evidence gathering is too often left to organizations like SANS, Spamhaus, and Trend Micro.
About Internet Evolution
Internet Evolution hosts more than 100 world-famous Internet experts -- such as
- Kevin Mitnick, once the most-wanted computer hacker in the world;
- Dr. Lawrence Roberts, inventor of packet switching, and one of the world's foremost authorities on telecom network architectures;
- Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google;
- Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.com;
- Paul Mockapetris, inventor of the Domain Name System (DNS);
- Howard Schmidt, former White House cybersecurity adviser;
- Andrew Keen, author of Cult of the Amateur:
How the Internet is killing our culture -- all of whom are addressing today's critical socio-economic issues within its ThinkerNet blogosphere. Internet Evolution also offers broadcast-quality broadband video documentaries and interviews; investigative reports; and user-generated content facilitated via the latest Web 2.0 technology.
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