Russian Business Network (RBN) - the Controversial hosting firm fingered by many as a nexus of malware exploits and cybercrime more generally - has suddenly dropped offline.

Trend Micro reports (http://blog.trendmicro.com/rbn-goes-poof) that the infamous network dropped off the net at around 0200 GMT on Wednesday, possibly after its upstream service providers pulled its connectivity. "Since then, IP addresses of RBN can no longer be reached because there is no routing for them any longer," Trend notes.

RBN is notorious (http://www.spamhaus.org/rokso/evidence.lasso?rokso_id=ROK7465) for hosting multiple instances of malware and web browser exploits. More recently it was fingered as the source of exploits based on a vulnerability in Adobe's Acrobat Reader. Its so-called "bulletproof hosting" facilities are also suspected of harbouring child pornography and phishing sites.

The Washington Post ran a high-profile expose (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101202461.html) of RBN's business back in October, a factor that may well have prompted (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/11/russian_business_network_down.html?nav=rss_blog) its upstream providers, including Tiscali and Russia’s C41, to act.

The disappearance of RBN makes the internet a safer place, at least for now. Trend cautions that the respite may be temporary. "RBN may find new upstream providers. In recent weeks, moreover, Trend Micro has seen equivalents of RBN pop up in Turkey and Taiwan," Trend Micro security researcher Feike Hacquebord notes. ®

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