Authorities shut down notorious ISP Real Host

An ISP linked to major botnet and phishing operations has been shut down by authorities.

Latvian hosting firm Real Host had been linked to numerous phishing operations as well as the massive Zeus BotNet. Swedish telco TeliaSonera was credited with forcing the shutdown.

Security site HostExploit characterized the company as a 'bullet proof' host for cybercriminals and likened the company's activities to those of the infamous Russian Business Network, which is thought to be behind a vast amount of cybercrime.

According to HostExploit records, Real Host servers had been used to host not only botnet activities, but also phishing operations, web-based malware attacks and distribution of pirated software and illegal pornography.

The company is also believed to have hosted credit card trading forums and money mule recruitment sites.

The security community has increasingly turned to law enforcement officials to shut down firms which provide hosting services to known cybercrime operators. Last year, the shutdown of McColo sent spam levels plummeting, and authorities more recently shut down service provider 3FN for similar reasons.