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KadNap is being used against Asus routers
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An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter- New KadNap malware infects 14,000+ routers
- Botnet uses custom Kademlia DHT protocol for resilience
- Proxy network Doppelgänger already active in the wild
A new malware strain has been found assimilating Asus routers into a botnet for malicious proxy traffic.
Security researchers Black Lotus spotted the new network, named KadNap, and warned that in less than a year it has managed to infect more than 14,000 devices, mostly made by Asus.
The attackers don’t seem to be targeting that manufacturer specifically, so it may be the case these products are relatively easy to compromise, or there are plenty of vulnerable devices out there, compared to competing endpoints. The majority of the victims (60%) are located in the US. The remaining 40% are split between Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, the UK, Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, and Spain.
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What makes this botnet unique is the use of the Kademlia Distributed Hash Table (DHT) protocol, a P2P network protocol used to store and find data across a decentralized network.
Instead of relying on a central server, millions of computers cooperate to locate files and information, making it quite resilient against possible law enforcement disruption efforts.
"KadNap employs a custom version of the Kademlia Distributed Hash Table (DHT) protocol, which is used to conceal the IP address of their infrastructure within a peer-to-peer system to evade traditional network monitoring," Black Lotus said in its report.
“The innovative use of the DHT protocol allows the malware to establish robust communication channels that are difficult to disrupt, by hiding in the noise of legitimate peer-to-peer traffic," they added.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.KatNap is apparently used to build a proxy network called Doppelgänger which seems to be a rebrand of a previous network called Faceless. This one, the researchers say, was built using TheMoon malware.
The botnet is past the construction stage, since it is apparently already being used in the wild.
Via The Hacker News
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Sead FadilpašićSocial Links NavigationSead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.
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