News Summary: Old USSR domain name lures hackers
News Summary: USSR's old domain space is increasingly attractive hideout for cybercriminals
E-VIL EMPIRE: Security experts say the .su Internet suffix assigned to the USSR in 1990 has turned into a haven for hackers who've flocked to the defunct superpower's domain space to send spam and steal money.
BACK STORY: Capitalist concerns, rather than Communist nostalgia, explain the move. Analysts say scammers began to move to .su after the administrators of Russia's .ru space toughened their rules back in late 2011.
THE HACKS: The most notorious website was Exposed.su, which purportedly published credit records belonging to Michelle Obama, Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and other celebrities. Other sites are used to control botnets — networks of hijacked computers used by criminals to empty bank accounts, crank out spam, or attack other websites.
