Corero executives offer perspective on recent reports of the Avzhan botnet resurfacing, targeting Chinese websites. Malwarebytes Labs researchers noted that while the bizarre patterns of this particular drive-by download were not especially advanced, they did involve the use of several different exploits to distribute malware. IT security experts commented below.
Sean Newman, Director of Product Management at Corero Network Security:
“Recent reports of a possible resurgence of the old Avzhan botnet, from 2010, just go to show how many old, unpatched, systems you can still find if you go digging on the Internet! It’s just another example showing that however much cyber criminals are innovating, they are still able to leverage techniques which have been tried and tested for many years. Botnets used for DDoS attacks – now comprised mainly of poorly secured IoT devices – have risen in popularity over the past couple of years. And, with the new promise of collecting significant ransom payments on the back of them, it’s no surprise that hackers might also be dusting off some of their old weapons.”
Andrew Lloyd, President at Corero Network Security:
“This is yet another strong reminder of the importance of patching. It’s well worth remembering that only last year, WannaCry exploited a vulnerability in unpatched Windows XP systems (years after XP had been superseded).”
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