Wishlist of spyware slime….
The sunbeltblog has uncovered a fairly interesting document. (Dated May 16 and originally in Russian) which appears to be the wishlist of a spyware criminal. (Slime was my own definition…)
It’s an interesting read – 7 pages, I haven’t read all the details yet, but the “it will disable all firewall and antivirus software in all possible ways” is enough for me to call them slime.
They (the spyware’ers…) probably refer to an ifram vulnerability detailed here. This vulnerability has been patched, but there are likely many unpatched systems out there.
They(sunbelt) apparently uncovered this researching spyware. (Go sunbelt… uncovering some good stuff lately.)
I’ve looked over it and it reads like a chat transcript. It lays out a clever, if slimy, design of a small downloader that is installed via the iframe exploit. That loader kickstarts a bigger bug, the REAL one, essentially stealth in the task list is a goal as is “infecting the system deeply”. They also details ways of using this network to distribute other parts of code, sophisticated control panelling and monitoring of the botnet.
They also reveal their attitude towards abuse complaints and express a desire to find a way to continue distributing the files after the server has been taken down. (Server compromise?)
It’s probably not too surprising, but it is interesting to see that validate that these essentially are virus writers trying to build a money making viral network.
Update 8/25 Spyware confidential has picked this up and has pointed the way to a useful site that a sunbelt employee has up regarding coolwebsearch. webhelper4u has a variety of resources detailing cws or coolwebsearch including lists of domains and ip addresses that are known to distribute the hijackware/spyware/adware pest.
There are also helpful links on that site to display some screenshots of the coolwebsearch “scareware” alerts, there are links to online forums where users might find help and he has detailed the history of the coolwebsearch (CWS) gang as well as additional writings. If you’re fighting a Coolwebsearch Infestation (CWS infestation) you might want to read up on it there.