New botnet nabs victims by sending 30,000 “sextortion” emails per hour
The botnet is capable of taking over email users’ accounts to bombard people with emails that threaten to publish personal sexual content on the web and social media unless they pay extortion money in the form of bitcoin.
The Phorpiex (aka Trik) botnet has existed for almost 10 years. First developed to distribute various malware like Gandcrab, Pony, and Pushdo to email users for the purpose of turning victim accounts into hosts for fraudulent cryptomining operations, Phorpiex now has a new trick up its sleeve. Researchers at the Tel Aviv-based Check Point confirmed that the botnet is now capable of taking over unwitting email users’ accounts to bombard the masses with emails that threaten to publish personal sexual content on the web, social media, and to other email contacts unless they pay extortion money in the form of bitcoin.