Cisco Systems

October 9, 2018

Naming & Shaming Web Polluters: Xiongmai

This post was originally published on this siteWhat do we do with a company that regularly pumps metric tons of virtual toxic sludge onto the Internet and yet refuses to clean up their act? If ever there were a technology giant that deserved to be named and shamed for polluting the Web, it is Xiongmai — a Chinese maker of electronic parts that power a huge percentage of cheap digital video recorders (DVRs) and Internet-connected security cameras. A rendering of Xiongmai’s center in Hangzhou, China. Source: xiongmaitech.com In late 2016, the world witnessed the sheer disruptive power of Mirai, a powerful […]
March 16, 2020

The Web’s Bot Containment Unit Needs Your Help

This post was originally published on this siteAnyone who’s seen the 1984 hit movie Ghostbusters likely recalls the pivotal scene where a government bureaucrat orders the shutdown of the ghost containment unit, effectively unleashing a pent-up phantom menace on New York City. Now, something similar is in danger of happening in cyberspace: Shadowserver.org, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that works to help Internet service providers (ISPs) identify and quarantine malware infections and botnets, has lost its longtime primary source of funding. Image: Ghostbusters. Shadowserver provides free daily live feeds of information about systems that are either infected with bot malware or […]
March 1, 2021

Is Your Browser Extension a Botnet Backdoor?

This post was originally published on this siteA company that rents out access to more than 10 million Web browsers so that clients can hide their true Internet addresses has built its network by paying browser extension makers to quietly include its code in their creations. This story examines the lopsided economics of extension development, and why installing an extension can be such a risky proposition. Singapore-based Infatica[.]io is part of a growing industry of shadowy firms trying to woo developers who maintain popular browser extensions — desktop and mobile device software add-ons available for download from Apple, Google, Microsoft […]