Friday, December 28, 2007

Internet stability technology exploited by hackers

In a deliciously devious example of unintended consequences, hackers are exploiting a technology to improve internet stability to hide their malware sites. Andy Greenberg reports for Forbes in Future Phishing, 12/28/2007:
"Fast flux takes advantage of an option built into the Web's architecture, which allows site owners to switch the Internet Protocol address of a site without changing its domain name. The IP-switching function is meant to create more stability on the Web by allowing an overloaded Web site to switch servers without a hiccup. But cybercriminals using fast flux take advantage of the option to move the physical location of their malicious sites every few minutes, making them much harder to block or shut down."
Another lesson, if any were needed, that all technologies are double-edged.