The internet security community is buzzing with the news that the Russian Business Network (RBN), a notorious group of professional badware distributors and online criminals, has pulled down its websites and abandoned its IP addresses, effectively vanishing from the internet. The RBN has been behind numerous large-scale attacks, and has been traced as an attacking source of several sites that have ended up in the Badware Website Clearinghouse.

Unfortunately, it seems clear that the RBN’s disappearance is simply a technique for moving deeper underground, a move likely precipitated by recent increased attention and publicity around the RBN. The anti-malware company Trend Micro is already reporting observing RBN-like activity in China and other parts of Asia.

It’s unlikely that the RBN will consolidate operations in any new home in the same way it operated for so long in Russia, instead diversifying the locations of both its online and on-the-ground operations, making it harder to track. For security researchers and makers of protective software, the disappearance of the RBN is less a victory than a new challenge.

The Washington Post today has a fascinating look at how three UK-based terrorists used badware and phishing scams to finance their criminal operations. The scale of the scams is mind-boggling, though unfortunately not as unusual as you might think.

The article notes that, “All told, investigators said al-Daour and his compatriots made more than $3.5 million in fraudulent charges using credit card accounts they stole via online phishing scams and the distribution of Trojan horses—computer programs embedded in innocent-looking e-mail messages or Web sites that give criminals control over infected computers.”

This highlights the strong ties between badware and crime of all stripes. The identity and financial information being stolen through trojans and keyloggers isn’t just lining the pockets of rich gangsters – it’s also helping finance acts of terrorism.

Read the full article here (may require free registration).