![]() It’s the malicious remote access software that interests security researchers Veronica Valeros and Sebastian García at the Czech Technical University in Prague. This category includes computer programs such as TeamViewer or LogMeIn that are legitimately used by system administrators, as well as teenagers trying to fix their grandparents’ PCs. These things set them apart from a benign type of software with a somewhat similar name, Remote Access/Administration Tool. RATs are typically installed without user consent and remain hidden to avoid detection. Those were the years that marked the birth of remote access Trojans (RATs), malicious software that allows an attacker to gain unauthorized access to a victim’s computer over the internet. ![]() To the unwitting user, it looked like a ghost was taking over the machine. They would eject the CD tray, swap the mouse buttons, or change the desktop colors. RATs primarily propagate through email attachments or through invisible download with a game or another program.In the late 1990s, when the internet was still young, it was common for tech-savvy kids to scare their friends by controlling their PCs remotely. Its primary hacker, Josh Buchbinder, went by the handle “Sir Dystic” in tribute to a 1930s comic book character who tried to be sinister but inadvertently did good. Back Orifice was launched in August 1998 at DEF CON 6 in Las Vegas with the goals of raising awareness of Windows security flaws. The malware’s name was a play on Microsoft’s BackOffice server software, and its creators intended it to be an “ethical” RAT. One of the earliest RATs was Back Orifice, created by the famous hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow. Prorat was developed in Turkey, and it’s still on the loose today and used as a base for development of other trojans. Then, the trojan communicated which ports were open to a remote server, and in turn the remote server connected to the computer and played sounds, changed printer properties, and downloaded and executed other malware. For this week’s Tech Time Warp, we’re traveling back to June 2009, where computer users first encountered Prorat, which falls into the latter category.Īccording to the Microsoft security bulletin on Prorat, the malware opened random TCP ports on the computers it attacked. The tech acronym “RAT” has two meanings: “remote administration tool,” or the software your friendly network administrator uses to install software or troubleshoot your computer issues, and “remote access trojan,” or the malware a nefarious individual uses to wreak havoc on your computer and steal passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information. ![]()
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