An ISP which made its fortune largely by hosting content for malware authors, identity thieves, child pornographers and spammers, has been permanently dismantled and put out of business by authorities in the United States.
San Jose-based 3FN.net (which used a variety of other names including Triple Fiber Network, APS Telecom or Pricewert LLC) became a hub for those running botnets, spreading phishing attacks, and child abuse images, making some $15,000 a month through hosting illegal content during six years of operation.
Many believe that that figure is conservative, and that if more evidence had been available regarding the ISP’s finances it could have been much higher.
Although 3FN did have some legitimate customers, the FTC accused it of protecting its more shadowy clients by ignoring takedown requests, and advertising its illegal services on criminal messageboards. As part of…
Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.
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