Infoblox Exposes: Chinese Cybercrime Syndicate Linking European Football Sponsors, Human Trafficking and a Trillion-Dollar Illegal Gambling Economy
Date
7/23/2024 1:37:17 AM
(MENAFN- Procre8) DUBAI, UAE, July 22, 2024 - Infoblox Inc., a leader in cloud networking and security services, today announced a significant breakthrough in cybercrime investigation with the unmasking of a threat actor that the company has named “Vigorish Viper.” Vigorish Viper is a Chinese organized crime syndicate that utilizes a sophisticated technology suite to take advantage of the global $1.7 trillion illegal sports gambling economy, with links to money laundering and human trafficking operations across Asia. This Infoblox discovery marks a significant milestone in the ongoing battle against global cybercrime using DNS intelligence.
“Vigorish Viper represents one of the most sophisticated and important threats to digital security that we have discovered to date,” said Dr. Renée Burton, Vice President, Infoblox Threat Intel. “Infoblox Threat Intel used cutting-edge DNS research to discover the technologies underpinning the syndicate. Vigorish Viper created a complex infrastructure with multiple layers of traffic distribution systems (TDSs) using DNS CNAME records and JavaScript, which makes it incredibly difficult to detect. These systems are complemented by their own encrypted communications and custom-developed applications, making their activities not only elusive but also remarkably resilient.”
Vigorish Viper is a name derived from the gambling world’s exorbitant fees levied on unlucky bettors. The term vigorish, or vig for short, is used by organized crime syndicates to refer to these fees. Viper refers to the complex combination of TDSs and convoluted brand relationships that the actor employs to route users to content. Vigorish Viper leverages sponsorship of popular European sports teams to advertise for their illegal gambling sites, which primarily target Greater China.
Dr. Renée Burton added, “This work is particularly important because it connects the physical crimes of human trafficking, money laundering, and fraud, to online crime in a way that hasn’t been done before. We can now see that organized crime is executing a cunning strategy that uses unwitting European clubs to fuel their criminal cycle.”
MENAFN23072024003749002651ID1108469915
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.