Friends and followers,
A local cop investigates someone, only to find he is an undercover FBI agent. Have you seen it in your favourite TV show or movie? That happened to me today.
The "Gh0st" scare!
This weekend I noticed someone tried to scan my server for "Gh0st". The full description of this malware is "Gh0st RAT" where RAT stands for Remote Access Tool. It's a nasty set of tools that hackers use to take control of your computer, steal your info, and even spy on you through your baby's webcam. The possibilities are endless.
Gh0st is so serious that it has its own Wikipedia page. The groups typically behind "Gh0stRAT" hacks are said to come from China, North Korea, and South Korea.
My first reflex was to ensure that my server was not infected by the scary Gh0st. I could not find any infection or tampering. All good.
My own detective work
I then investigated who was behind the IP address (66.240.205.34) that was scanning my server. Turns out, it actually belongs to the search engine Shodan.io. So it was just Shodan checking to see if my server had been compromised. Shodan is just one of the many companies that continuously scan everything connected to the internet. They do all of the scanning without any permission. Of course, some of them ask you to contact them if you do not want to be scanned. But that is not easy and involves providing more personal data to the scanning companies.
Internet Scanning: Good or bad?
In my opinion, nobody should be allowed to scan anyone else's server or smartphone or babycam, without prior approval. The extreme greed of data collectors, Shodan included, seems to know no bounds. Just because a parent has got a baby monitor to look after their child, it doesn't mean Shodan has any right to scan your gadgets. It's as straightforward as that. How many parents know how to contact these scanning companies so that their babycam is excluded?
The info these scanners rake in could easily end up with creeps. Let's face it, no scan company in the world is looking out for you. GDPR? It doesn't touch the lawless zones. And let's not get started on the global network scanning laws - they're a joke, drawn up by clueless folks and hardly enforced.
What I'm hoping for
I wish the laws against scanning were tougher, making each scanner cough up, say, USD 1000 per scan. Believe me, Shodan would be out of business in a day, and your baby's privacy would be a whole lot safer.
Oh, and don't even start with the old 'scanners can just use a VPN' line. Every issue has a fix. If the powers that be slapped massive fines on internet and mobile providers that let VPNs being misused, you'd see a drop in the criminal antics that hide behind them within a week.
What do you think? DMs are open!
Santosh Pandit
21 April 2024
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