With cyber attacks, data breaches, malware and ransomware threats already hitting records numbers this year, the importance for businesses to secure themselves online has become pivotal.
With that said, the battle against cyber criminals has taken a step in the right direction with the recent news that the creator of the remote access Trojan known as LuminosityLink, Colton Grubbs has pleaded guilty to creating and distributing the malware used by thousands of threat actors to gain unauthorised access to tens of thousands of computers across 78 countries worldwide.
For those of you that don't know what the LuminosityLink RAT malware is?
The LuminosityLink RAT malware was first formally identified back in April 2015 where it was allowing its users to utilise a number of surveillance like capabilities such as remote desktop and microphone access as well as the ability for smart keyloggers to target specific programmes.
Following on from this, back in February this year, the Europol and the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that it was planning to launch a full scale operation to find the creators and distributors of Luminosity. However, this operation was unable to get off the ground as not long after this announcement, leading security researchers stated the malware had been retired for well over 6 months.
In the recent court case, it was further revealed in the plea agreement that Grubbs under his online name of 'KFC Watermelon', confessed to creating and providing the LuminosityLink to over 8,600 customers for an affordable sum of just $40 between May 2015 and Mid-2017.
How was the malware distributed and what could it do?
The malware was distributed via the Luminosity.link website as well as through the HackForums.net forum. Despite his claims that the malware tool was being used for legitimate reasons to help with system administration, the developer was flouting capabilities that would enable customers to not only access systems but to also control them without the owner's knowledge.
As stated by the official court documents, the hacker further revealed more about the malware capabilities in that the malware could be installed remotely without any notifications being flagged up, in addition to keylogging and surveillance capabilities and the ability to steal sensitive information such as passwords or login details as well as a built in feature to rebuff any attempts from anti-malware software to remove the malware.
Having read the above article, does your business believe that its current cyber security solutions are up to scratch and up to date? If not, then why not get in touch with Advantage today who will be able to get your business Cyber Security Certified as well as provide you with fully comprehensive security solutions tailored to your business requirements
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