Minecraft Link To Nets Biggest Botnet
Minecraft link to the largest botnet
20 January 2017
Malware that led to the internet's biggest ever cyber-attack in the year 2000 included links to Minecraft servers, according to those investigating it.
Security blogger Brian Krebs has spent months investigating the attack which 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 supported by an expert in security, who offered net security to Minecraft servers.
Robert Coelho (Vice President of Security Firm ProxyPipe) told the BBC that his suspicions regarding the Mirai code were passed on to the FBI who is "actively investigating" them.
The botnet Mirai comprised of more than 500,000 internet-connected devices such as webcams and routers.
It launched attacks referred to as denial-of-service (DDoS) that affected websites with such a large amount of data they collapsed, which were the biggest ever.
The victims that were taken offline included Twitter, Spotify and Reddit.
"Hundreds of hours"
After the attacks, the individual claiming responsibility - using the codename Anna Senpai - released the source code online, paving the way for copies of the attacks.
Later the malware was modified and the malware was used to attack UK internet service providers TalkTalk or the Post Office.
Since being hit by the Mirai botnet in September 2016 Krebs has been adamant that Krebs has put in "hundreds of hours" into uncovering who was behind it.
He wrote "If you've ever wondered why so few internet criminals are being brought to justice, then I can tell that the sheer quantity and perseverance required to piece together who's done which (and why) online is staggering."
His research led him directly to the community of Minecraft which is a computer game now owned by Microsoft, in which users build things from cubic blocks.
It has a massive following especially among children and it is estimated that at any time a million people are playing it.
Mr Krebs claims that a Minecraft server with more than 1,000 players can make $50,000 per month (PS40,600). This is mainly due to users renting space to build their Minecraft worlds.
"The first clues to Anna Senpai's identity weren't clear until I understood that Mirai was just the latest incarnation of an IoT [internet of thingsbotnet family that has been in development and broad use for nearly three years," he writes.
The code in these earlier versions was frequently used to attack servers that hosted Minecraft the game, according to him. Extremecraft
ProxyPipe, owned by Mr Coelho was a client of many Minecraft servers as clients. In mid-2015, ProxyPipe was hit by an attack of massive proportions that came from a botnet of IoT devices, such as web cameras.
Mr. Coelho told the BBC that he had suspicions as to who was behind the attack: "Minecraft is a tight knit community. We know who's talking.
He claimed that the attack was orchestrated by a rival security firm, which also provided DDoS protection to Minecraft users.
He claimed that the founder and client of the security company had previously run the Minecraft web server.
He claims that Anna Senpai, the Mirai creator, contacted him via Skype at the end of September to explain that the attack against his company was "not personal" however, she also wanted to brag about how he was paid by the owners a large Minecraft server to launch an attack against an opponent server.
What is an DDoS attack?
7 March 2016
"Smart" devices used in cyber-attacks
22 October 2016
