Exploits Block List Grows 50% Because of Spambot, Avalanche/Gamarue botnet

A spambot targeting Chinese porn websites and a rise in the number of infected devices by the Avalanche/Gamarue botnet are behind the 50% increase of the Spamhaus Exploits Block List (XBL) during the past few weeks.

Spamhaus' XBL is a near real-time database which lists IP addresses of devices compromised and infected using various types of malware strains ranging from run-of-the-mill bots and illegal proxies to complex self-propagating worms capable of performing malvertising tasks and Trojan horses that can exfiltrate vast amounts of data.

"Approximately 25% of this increase is due to a new spambot sending out vast quantities of spam for Chinese porn web sites. We believe that this may be due to proxy software, popular in China, having a security issue," as Spamhaus reports... (read more)