E-vil empire: USSR's old domain space is increasingly attractive hideout for hackers

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Evil+empire+USSRs+domain+space+increasingly+attractive+hideout/8459435/story.html

BY RAPHAEL SATTER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAY 31, 2013

MOSCOW - The Soviet Union disappeared from the map more than two decades ago. 
But online an 'e-vil empire' is thriving.

Security experts say the .su Internet suffix assigned to the USSR in 1990 has 
turned into a haven for hackers who've flocked to the defunct superpower's 
domain space to send spam and steal money.

Capitalist concerns, rather than Communist nostalgia, explain the move.

"I don't think that this is really a political thing," Oren David, a manager at 
security firm RSA's anti-fraud unit, said in a recent telephone interview. 
David noted that other obscure areas of the Internet, such as the .tk domain 
associated with the South Pacific territory of Tokelau, have been used by 
opportunistic hackers.

"It's all about business," he said.

David and others say scammers began to move to .su after the administrators of 
Russia's .ru space toughened their rules back in late 2011.

[...]


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