Minecraft Link To Nets Biggest Botnet
Minecraft link to the largest botnet
Malware that launched the net's largest cyber-attack ever included links to Minecraft servers, according to those investigating it.
Security blogger Brian Krebs has spent months studying the attack that knocked his blog offline.
He claims that the origins of the Mirai botnet can be traced back to rivalries in the Minecraft community.
His claims are backed up by an expert in security, who provided net security for Minecraft servers.
Robert Coelho (Vice President of Security ProxyPipe) Robert Coelho (Vice President of Security ProxyPipe) told the BBC that his suspicions concerning the Mirai code were communicated to the FBI who are "actively investigating" the code.
Mirai, a botnet of more than 500,000 connected devices, such as routers and webcams was developed.
It launched attacks known as denial-of-service (DDoS) which hit web pages with such a large amount of data they collapsed, which were the largest ever.
Victims that were knocked offline included Twitter, Spotify and Reddit.
"Hundreds of hours"
Following the attacks, the individual responsible - using the codename Anna Senpai released the source code online, opening the way for copycat attacks.
A modified form of the malware was later used to attack UK internet service providers TalkTalk and the Post Office.
Since being hit by the Mirai botnet in September 2016 The entrepreneur Krebs has devoted "hundreds of hours" into uncovering who was behind it.
He wrote "If you have ever wondered why only a handful of cyber criminals are brought to justice, then I can tell that the sheer volume and perseverance required to piece together who's doing what (and why) online is huge."
His research led him to Minecraft which is a computer program that is now owned by Microsoft which allows users to build things using cubic blocks.
It is loved by many, particularly children and is played by over one million people at any given moment.
Mr Krebs claims that a Minecraft server with over 1,000 players can make $50,000 per month (PS40,600). This is mainly due to players renting space to build their Minecraft worlds.
He states that Anna Senpai's identity was not revealed until he was able to understand Mirai the most recent member of an IoT botnet family that was developing for more than three years.
He says that the code in these older versions was used to take down servers hosting Minecraft.
ProxyPipe is owned by Mr. Coelho was a popular provider of Minecraft servers as clients. It in mid-2015 was hit by a massive attack, launched from a botnet made up of IoT devices such as web cameras.
BBC interviewer Mr Coelho said that he was suspicious about the attacker and that "Minecraft is a community that is tight-knit." We know who is talking to who."
He claimed that the attack was orchestrated by a rival security company that also provided DDoS protection for Minecraft users.
He claimed that the founder and client of the security firm previously ran the Minecraft web server.
He claims that Anna Senpai, the Mirai author was in contact with him via Skype at September's end to explain that the attack against his company was "not personal", but also to boast about how he was paid by the owners of a large Minecraft server for launching an attack on a rival server.
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