Security Architecture, Application security, Application security, Endpoint/Device Security, IoT, Security Strategy, Plan, Budget, Vulnerability Management, Threat Management, Threat Management, Malware, Endpoint/Device Security, Endpoint/Device Security, Endpoint/Device Security

U.S. presses charges against Washington man allegedly linked to Satori IoT botnet

US v Schuchman

U.S. prosecutors in Alaska last week filed charges against a Washington man who is allegedly linked to the Satori IoT botnet that infected more than 280,000 IP addresses in 12 hours upon its debut in late 2017.

The federal indictment charges Kenneth Schuchman with two counts of violating the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, accusing the 20-year-old man of propagating malicious code that caused damage to protected computers. The court documentation claims the first incident took place from August through November 2017 and damaged 10 or more protected computers within a one-year period, and that the second attack occurred in November 2017 and caused damage to a protected computer owned by one unspecified victim.

The indictment does not actually mention Satori, but an Aug. 30 report in the Daily Beast explains that two months after researchers linked the IoT malware to a hacker with the alias Nexus Zeta, a Pastebin post by other hackers claimed the actor's actual identity was Schuchman.

The researchers, from Check Point Software Technologies, described Nexus Zeta as an apparent amateur hacker as opposed to a sophisticated expert, noting that he spent time in forums asking for help creating a derivative of the Mirai IoT botnet.

Satori, which is descended from Mirai, works by exploring a zero-day vulnerability in Huawei Home Gateway routers.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.