Storm Worm Spams Its Own Bots

When Botnets Go Wild. Link.

Corman said the Storm Worm is an "instantiation of a class of botnets" that is being used in attacks such as pump-and-dump campaigns to derive profits for its authors. It communicates through decentralized peer-to-peer networks, which makes it difficult to stop.

If the Storm Worm authors find a way to monetize other uses for the botnet, users may see an influx of DDoS attacks that could paralyze some organizations. Some businesses are preparing for such an incident by reassessing their disaster recovery capabilities, Corman said.

He said he also worries about a political motive: For example, Storm could impact the websites of presidential candidates, or be used to deliver spam that may sway voter's decisions, Corman said.