RBN: dead or alive?
The Russian Business Network (RBN), supposedly the largest hub for criminalized internet activity, has recently vanished from sight. However, according to some internet security experts, the question of whether the RBN really died, remains open. The list of crimes that the RBN has managed to accumulate throughout the years is really impressive: it includes phishing, identity theft, malware production, denial of service and even child pornography.
Although the Network’s servers have recently been discovered, and the chase for incriminating evidence began, the cabal of hackers and pornographers has quickly scrambled to establish servers in China under cover as an Italian company. It seemed that soon, things would return to business as usual for the RBN. However, several days ago, the Russian Business Network has vanished swiftly and unexpectedly from the radars of security specialists from around the world.
While some may argue that the RBN may be out of business (China is not the safest place in the world for cybercriminals), nobody has any clue as to what has acutally happened. They might as well be laying low and preparing for something big. Or just relocating their assets. Either way, it remains to be seen if the RBN reappears in the murky deeps of internet crime networks, or if they had just been taken over by Russian mafia (the RBN is manned almost exclusively by Tech graduates with no real-life criminal record whatsoever).
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