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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

The Great $50M African IP Address Heist

Summary: Ernest Byaruhanga, policy coordinator at the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), resigned in October 2019 after a three-year investigation by researcher Ron Guilmette found tens of thousands of African IP addresses apparently sold off by companies he founded, including ipv4leasing. Guilmette estimates the purloined IPv4 addresses, which fetch $15-$25 each on the open market, exceed $50 million in value, and AFRINIC's new CEO Eddy Kayihura said the organization is investigating.

What you should know: The addresses were quietly taken from African businesses that no longer exist or were acquired years ago, and some were traced to spam campaigns that Spamhaus linked to a U.S. email marketing firm whose executives now face federal criminal charges. The insider who controlled allocations was the second person ever hired at the registry, which is the stake a security leader should weigh: the authority that hands out address space is itself the attack surface.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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