Shutting the Door on the XCPE Botnet (Threat Intelligence)
The Google Threat Intelligence blog describes, in great detail, the XCPE botnet, which has just been taken down.
Why am I seeing this Ranked on recency
It is here mostly because it is new. Freshness is the largest single contributor to its score, which means nothing about the story except that it is recent.
Nothing much is corroborating this yet. On a quiet day in security that is enough to reach the top of the section — recency, not significance, is doing the work here.
Link-outLink-out, because only one organisation carries it and no first-party source is on it. Link-out means we point at the publisher and say nothing of our own.
| Factor | Weight | Score | Contribution | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corroboration | 0.35 | 0.39 | +0.135 30% | 1 independent org on the story. Tier-3 aggregators never corroborate — they can show something is circulating, never that it is true. |
| Source trust | 0.25 | 0.49 | +0.124 27% | LWN is the highest-trust source on this story. Trust is taken from the best source, not averaged. |
| Pickup rate | 0.20 | 0.00 | +0.000 0% | One counted organisation, so there is no spread to measure — nothing has picked this up to set a rate. |
| Freshnessleads | 0.20 | 0.97 | +0.193 43% | Halves every 10 hours from the newest item on the story. This is the only factor that rewards a story for nothing more than being recent. |
Corroboration counts distinct organisations, once each, and only from tiers 1 and 2. Freshness halves every 10 hours, so this ranking is a snapshot and will differ at the next build.
AnsyahF · GPL · Wikimedia Commons · illustrativeWhat happened
The Google Threat Intelligence blog describes, in great detail, the XCPE botnet, which has just been taken down. Last week, Google and industry partners dismantled the XCPE backdoor which enrolled more than 1.3 million set-top boxes into a botnet. We assess with high confidence that the backdoor and botnet were intentionally developed, deployed, and operated for financial gain by Videostrong Technology Co., an Android Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Device Manufacturer (ODM). Videostrong monetized the backdoor by selling access to criminal affiliates and loading those affiliates' malware modules onto infected devices.
How this story arrived
Ordered by when each source was first observed, which is what the velocity figure is computed from. Publishers backdate; observed order does not.
- 01 Lwn first seen Shutting the Door on the XCPE Botnet (Threat Intelligence)
Overclock clusters coverage from independent sources and grades it automatically. The figures above are computed, not editorial. This page summarises and links to reporting by the outlets named — follow the links for the original work.