论文标题
利用比特币测试网进行双向僵尸网络命令和控制系统
Leveraging Bitcoin Testnet for Bidirectional Botnet Command and Control Systems
论文作者
论文摘要
在过去的二十年中,连接到互联网的设备数量呈指数增长。僵尸网络受益于这种崛起,从而增加了其规模和攻击的幅度。但是,他们的命令和控制系统(C&C)系统仍然存在一个弱点,该系统通常基于集中式服务或需要复杂的基础架构才能继续运行而不会被当局删除。区块链技术的最近传播可能使僵尸网络成为使其很难破坏的强大工具。最近的研究表明,如何将C&C消息嵌入比特币交易中,从而使它们几乎无法阻止。然而,交易有成本,并允许传输非常有限的数据。因此,仅通过比特币发送了从Botmaster到机器人的消息,而Bot则假定可以通过外部渠道进行通信。此外,出于同样的原因,基于比特币的消息被清晰发送。在本文中,我们展示了如何使用比特币测试网络,可以克服这些局限性并在Botmaster和Bots之间实施无成本,双向和加密的C&C通道。我们提出了一个通信协议,并分析了其在现实生活中的生存能力。我们的结果表明,这种方法将使Botmaster几乎没有成本构建一个坚固且难以破坏的C&C系统,从而代表了应为其设计对策的现实威胁。
Over the past twenty years, the number of devices connected to the Internet grew exponentially. Botnets benefited from this rise to increase their size and the magnitude of their attacks. However, they still have a weak point in their Command & Control (C&C) system, which is often based on centralized services or require a complex infrastructure to keep operating without being taken down by authorities. The recent spread of blockchain technologies may give botnets a powerful tool to make them very hard to disrupt. Recent research showed how it is possible to embed C&C messages in Bitcoin transactions, making them nearly impossible to block. Nevertheless, transactions have a cost and allow very limited amounts of data to be transmitted. Because of that, only messages from the botmaster to the bots are sent via Bitcoin, while bots are assumed to communicate through external channels. Furthermore, for the same reason, Bitcoin-based messages are sent in clear. In this paper we show how, using Bitcoin Testnet, it is possible to overcome these limitations and implement a cost-free, bidirectional, and encrypted C&C channel between the botmaster and the bots. We propose a communication protocol and analyze its viability in real life. Our results show that this approach would enable a botmaster to build a robust and hard-to-disrupt C&C system at virtually no cost, thus representing a realistic threat for which countermeasures should be devised.