Russian hackers who developed the Fronton botnet are now using it not only for mass DDoS attacks, but also to spread disinformation on social networks.
Nisos has published a study that describes the inner workings of this botnet.
Fronton became known back in 2020. At that time, the Digital Revolution group of attackers, on behalf of the FSB, published technical documentation on the creation of a botnet. At that time, experts believed that it was created exclusively for DDoS attacks, but the documents made it clear that this was only part of its capabilities.
According to Nisos, the Fronton botnet is a “system for coordinated inauthentic behavior” and its real purpose is the rapid and automated spread of propaganda and disinformation.
Its capabilities are as follows:
The operator can also specify the time interval between tasks. As can be seen from the capabilities of the botnet, it is prone to machine learning to maximally imitate the behavior of real users and deceive the audience.
Nisos has published a study that describes the inner workings of this botnet.
Fronton became known back in 2020. At that time, the Digital Revolution group of attackers, on behalf of the FSB, published technical documentation on the creation of a botnet. At that time, experts believed that it was created exclusively for DDoS attacks, but the documents made it clear that this was only part of its capabilities.
According to Nisos, the Fronton botnet is a “system for coordinated inauthentic behavior” and its real purpose is the rapid and automated spread of propaganda and disinformation.
Its capabilities are as follows:
- Monitor posts and trends in news sections and post responses.
- Managing bots.
- Creating bots to register fake accounts with generated emails and phone numbers.
- Responding to messages and content.
- Storage of thematic words, phrases, quotes, reactions (likes-emojis) and comments.
- Storing avatars for fake accounts.
- Automated publication of posts according to a schedule, as well as the time and quantitative distribution of likes, comments, reactions that the bot must perform.
The operator can also specify the time interval between tasks. As can be seen from the capabilities of the botnet, it is prone to machine learning to maximally imitate the behavior of real users and deceive the audience.
