Hack in the USSR: cybercriminals find haven in .su domain space

The Soviet Union disappeared from the map more than two decades ago, but online an “evil empire” is thriving.

Security experts say the .su internet suffix assigned to the USSR in 1990 has turned into a haven for hackers who’ve flocked to the domain space to send spam and steal money.

Capitalist concerns rather than communist nostalgia explain the move.

“I don’t think that this is really a political thing,” said Oren David, a manager at the security firm RSA’s anti-fraud unit. “It’s all about business.”

David and others said scammers began to move to .su after the administrators of Russia‘s .ru domain space toughened their rules in late 2011. Read more