Parler hosting company’s code offered up for sale online
However experts doubt legitimacy of the information
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The source code anddatabaseof DDoS-Guard, theweb hostingplatform of the controversial social media companyParlerhas apparently been posted for sale online.
AmazonWeb Services (AWS), the original hosting provider for the beleaguered social network,pulled the plugearlier this year over apparent insufficiencies in Parler’s content moderation policy.
Parler then found refuge with the Russia-based hosting provider DDoS-Guard, but researchers from cyber-intelligence company Group-B have uncovered a cybercrime forum listing offering DDoS-Guard’s database and the entire source code for its infrastructure for $350,000.
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Poetic justice
According to the post, the database supposedly contains information about DDoS-Guard’s customers, including their names, IP-addresses, and payment information. However, Group-IB has said that it can’t verify the authenticity of the data, since the poster hasn’t provided a sample.
“If the data is legitimate, the threat actors can potentially use it in a number of ways: from mass spamming and follow up targeted phishing attacks,” said Group-IB’s threat intelligence analyst, Oleg Dyorov, speaking toCyberScoop, adding that the data could perhaps even be used to conduct ransomware attacks.
If the data is indeed authenticated, it’d be ironic given DDoS-Guard’s flirtations with the law.
Adrianus Warmenhoven, chief information security officer at Dutchcybersecurityfirm Tesorion, toldCyberScoopthat DDoS-Guard is one of those hosting companies that are adept at staying “just at the edges of the law.”
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In its earlier report on online piracy, Group-IBtoo had observed that DDoS-Guard not just hosts but also obstructs the identification of website owners of hundreds of shady resources that are engaged in illicit goods sale, gambling, and copyright infringements.
ViaCyberScoop
With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.
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