Rizon

Last updated
Rizon
RizonLogo.png
FoundedJuly 2002;22 years ago (2002-07)
Geographic location Europe
Canada
United States
Asia
Based in Worldwide
Website URL rizon.net
Primary DNS irc.rizon.net
Average users 9000
Average channels 8000
Content/subject Public/Unrestricted

Rizon is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network. The IRC network itself ranks number 5 among the largest IRC networks. [1] [2] Rizon is popular with many anime fansubbing groups who work online, many of whom provide their content through XDCC via IRC bots in their distribution channels. It is also used by many users of eRepublik as a means of communication. [3] File sharing of other copyrighted material such as Warez is also common in some channels on the network. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Rizon IRCd

Rizon currently uses Plexus IRCd. Plexus was coded specifically with Rizon in mind and is based on ircd-hybrid. Plexus is not exclusive to Rizon as the IRCd is also used by other networks. Plexus versions 1.x and 2.x were originally coded by static & peer. Plexus 3.x was rewritten by ThaPrince and is now maintained and developed by the Rizon Dev Team.

As of the r524 release, the ability for automatic services authentication using SSL client certificates has been implemented, and was largely based on the work done by OFTC [ citation needed ], though significant changes were made regarding server-to-server communication.

Controversy

DDoS attack against mIRCX

In early 2004 the mIRCX and Aniverse IRC networks were the victims of Denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) and were forced to shut down temporarily; Aniverse later resumed operations at a greatly reduced capacity. This in turn caused approximately 8,000–10,000 IRC users of various anime fansubbing channels to migrate to Rizon. Rizon was forced to increase its number of servers to handle the additional users. This also had the effect of making Rizon a target for DDoS attacks.

Contrary to rumors, Rizon had no part in a DDoS attack against mIRCX in 2004. Richard "Krashed" Roby was the actual perpetrator who initiated the attacks in retaliation against CJB networks for shutting down his botnet. [8] Roby was later raided by the FBI as part of Operation Cyberslam. [9] [10] Initial charges brought against Roby as part of Operation Cyberslam were dropped but he later pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to an 18-month prison sentence. [11] [12] [13]

DDoS attacks against rival networks

On May 25, 2007, as part of Operation: Bot Roast conducted by the FBI, Rizon's founder, Jason Michael Downey aka "Nessun" was charged with using a botnet in 2004 to launch Denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) against other computer networks, including rival IRC networks such as IRCHighway. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

On June 20, 2007, Downey pleaded guilty in a US Federal court to operating a botnet "of up to 6,000 infected computers" and using it to launch DDoS attacks "From on or about June 18, 2004 through on or about September 5, 2004." Downey faced up to 24 months in prison and a fine of up to $40,000. [14]

When asked his reasons behind performing the DDoS attacks, Downey explained to U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds that "I was doing it because I could, more than anything," and "It was a dumb thing to do." [19]

Downey was sentenced on October 23, 2007, to 12 months in prison for causing over $20,000 in losses and damages due to unlawful computer intrusion and was ordered to pay a total of $21,110 in damages to 3 companies that were affected by his DDoS attacks. After his release, Downey will have a probation term of 3 years with no computer access without prior permission and will have to perform 150 hours of community service. [14] [15] [20] [21] [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DALnet</span>

DALnet is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network made up of 39 servers, with a stable population of approximately 10,000 users in about 4,000 channels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BitchX</span> Free IRC client

BitchX is a free IRC client that has been regarded as the most popular ircII-based IRC client. The initial implementation, written by "Trench" and "HappyCrappy", was a script for the IrcII chat client. It was converted to a program in its own right by panasync. BitchX 1.1 final was released in 2004. It is written in C and is a TUI application utilizing ncurses. GTK+ toolkit support has been dropped. It works on all Unix-like operating systems, and is distributed under a BSD license. It was originally based on ircII-EPIC, and eventually it was merged into the EPIC IRC client. It supports IPv6, multiple servers and SSL, and a subset of UTF-8 with an unofficial patch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IRC</span> Protocol for real-time Internet chat and messaging

IRC is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and data transfer, including file sharing.

FastTrack is a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol that was used by the Kazaa, Grokster, iMesh and Morpheus file sharing programs. FastTrack was the most popular file sharing network in 2003, and used mainly for the exchange of music MP3 files. The network had approximately 2.4 million concurrent users in 2003. It is estimated that the total number of users was greater than that of Napster at its peak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XDCC</span> File sharing service

XDCC is a computer file sharing method which uses the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network as a host service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botnet</span> Collection of compromised internet-connected devices controlled by a third party

A botnet is a group of Internet-connected devices, each of which runs one or more bots. Botnets can be used to perform distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send spam, and allow the attacker to access the device and its connection. The owner can control the botnet using command and control (C&C) software. The word "botnet" is a portmanteau of the words "robot" and "network". The term is usually used with a negative or malicious connotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eggdrop</span>

Eggdrop is a popular IRC bot and the oldest that is still being maintained.

Agobot, also frequently known as Gaobot, is a family of computer worms. Axel "Ago" Gembe, a German programmer also known for leaking Half-Life 2 a year before release, was responsible for writing the first version. The Agobot source code describes it as: “a modular IRC bot for Win32 / Linux”. Agobot was released under version 2 of the GNU General Public License. Agobot is a multi-threaded and mostly object oriented program written in C++ as well as a small amount of assembly. Agobot is an example of a Botnet that requires little or no programming knowledge to use.

Internet Relay Chat Flooding/Scrolling on an IRC network is a method of disconnecting users from an IRC server, exhausting bandwidth which causes network latency ('lag'), or just disrupting users. Floods can either be done by scripts or by external programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colloquy (software)</span> IRC client

Colloquy is an open-source IRC, SILC, ICB and XMPP client for Mac OS X. Colloquy uses its own core, known as Chat Core, although in the past it used Irssi as its IRC protocol engine. One of the primary goals behind Colloquy was to create an IRC, SILC and ICB client with Mac OS X visuals. Colloquy contains a user interface that follows Apple's Human interface guidelines in addition to containing support for traditional IRC command-line controls such as /nick and /join.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CGI:IRC</span> CGI program

CGI:IRC is a CGI program written in Perl that allows access to IRC via a web browser. It is designed to be flexible and has many uses such as an IRC gateway for an IRC network, a chat-room for a website or to access IRC when stuck behind a restrictive firewall.

ircII Oldest still active developed IRC-Client

ircII is a free, open-source Unix IRC and ICB client written in C. Initially released in the late 1980s, it is the oldest IRC client still maintained.

Operation: Bot Roast is an operation by the FBI to track down bot herders, crackers, or virus coders who install malicious software on computers through the Internet without the owners' knowledge, which turns the computer into a zombie computer that then sends out spam to other computers from the compromised computer, making a botnet or network of bot infected computers. The operation was launched because the vast scale of botnet resources poses a threat to national security.

Akbot was a computer virus that infected an estimated 1.3 million computers and added them to a botnet. It was created by an 18-year-old named Owen Walker, who was charged but unconvicted in 2008.

Freenode, stylized as freenode and formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network which was previously used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are accessible from the hostname chat.freenode.net, which load balances connections by using round-robin DNS.

The Cutwail botnet, founded around 2007, is a botnet mostly involved in sending spam e-mails. The bot is typically installed on infected machines by a Trojan component called Pushdo. It affects computers running Microsoft Windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KVIrc</span> IRC Client

KVIrc is a graphical IRC client for Linux, Unix, Mac OS and Windows. The name is an acronym of K Visual IRC in which the K stands for a dependency to KDE, which became optional from version 2.0.0. The software is based on the Qt framework and its code is released under a modified GNU General Public License.

Plouf's Java IRC (PJIRC) is a web-based open-source IRC client that is written in Java. Any web browser that supports the Java Runtime Environment, or an alternative Java interpreter, can use the applet. Many IRC networks have a public installation of the applet for their network.

UnrealIRCd is an open-source IRC daemon, originally based on DreamForge, and is available for Unix-like operating systems and Windows. Since the beginning of development on UnrealIRCd c. May 1999, many new features have been added and modified, including advanced security features and bug fixes, and it has become a popular server.

United States of America v. Ancheta is the name of a lawsuit against Jeanson James Ancheta of Downey, California by the U.S. Government and was handled by the United States District Court for the Central District of California. This is the first botnet related prosecution in U.S history.

References

  1. ↑ "IRC Networks - Top 100" . Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  2. ↑ Piccard, Paul; Baskin, Brian; Edwards, Craig; Spillman, George (2005-05-01). "Internet Relay Chat—Major Players of IRC". In Sachs, Marcus (ed.). Securing IM and P2P Applications for the Enterprise. foreword by Kevin Beaver (1st ed.). Rockland, Massachusetts: Syngress Publishing. p. 371. ISBN   978-1-59749-017-7.
  3. ↑ Piccard, Paul; Baskin, Brian; Edwards, Craig; Spillman, George (2005-05-01). "IRC Networks and Security". In Sachs, Marcus (ed.). Securing IM and P2P Applications for the Enterprise. foreword by Kevin Beaver (1st ed.). Rockland, Massachusetts: Syngress Publishing. p. 387. ISBN   978-1-59749-017-7.
  4. ↑ Wang, Wallace (2004-10-25). "Instant Messaging and Online Chat Rooms" . Steal this File Sharing Book (1st ed.). San Francisco, California: No Starch Press. p.  63. ISBN   978-1-59327-050-6. Three of the most popular networks used for file trading include Undernet, Rizon, and EFnet.
  5. ↑ Piccard, Paul; Baskin, Brian; Edwards, Craig; Spillman, George (2005-05-01). "Internet Relay Chat—Major Players of IRC". In Sachs, Marcus (ed.). Securing IM and P2P Applications for the Enterprise. foreword by Kevin Beaver (1st ed.). Rockland, Massachusetts: Syngress Publishing. p. 372. ISBN   978-1-59749-017-7.
  6. ↑ Office of the United States Trade Representative (2006-04-21). National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, 2006 (21st ed.). United States Government Printing Office. p. 256. ISBN   0-16-075976-5.
  7. ↑ Office of the United States Trade Representative (2006-03-31). "National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, 2006" (PDF). p. 263. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  8. ↑ "Why irc.mircx was shut down". 20 February 2004. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Poulsen, Kevin (2004-08-26). "FBI busts alleged DDoS Mafia". SecurityFocus . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  10. ↑ "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PAUL G. ASHLEY, JONATHAN DAVID HALL, JOSHUA JAMES SCHICHTEL, RICHARD ROBY and LEE GRAHAM WALKER" (PDF). 2004-09-25. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  11. ↑ Poulsen, Kevin (2005-09-08). "Hackers Admit to Wave of Attacks". Wired. Wired News . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  12. ↑ Brian, Krebs (2006-05-01). "Hired Internet Gun Sentenced to Two Years". Security Fix. Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  13. ↑ "FooNET/HTTPD/CIT updates and information" . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  14. 1 2 3 "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. D-1 JASON MICHAEL DOWNEY". 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  15. 1 2 "Nessun Goes to Jail". IRC-Junkie.org. 2007-10-27. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  16. ↑ FBI National Press Office (2007-06-13). "Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime". Press Release. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02. Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged with an Information with using botnets to send a high volume of traffic to intended recipients to cause damage by impairing the availability of such systems. (FBI Detroit)
  17. ↑ O'Brien, Luke (2007-06-13). "FBI Announces Botnet Dragnet". Threat Level. Wired News . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  18. ↑ Acohido, Byron (2007-06-13). "FBI cracks down on 'bot herders'". USA Today . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  19. ↑ "Nessun: "Because I Could"". IRC-Junkie.org. 2007-06-26. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  20. ↑ FBI National Press Office (2007-11-29). ""Bot Roast II" Nets 8 Individuals". Press Release. Federal Bureau of Investigation . Retrieved 2009-03-02. Downey operated Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network Rizon. Downey stated that most of the attacks he committed were on other IRC networks or on the people that operated them.
  21. ↑ Vamosi, Robert (2007-11-29). "FBI's Operation Bot Roast II nets additional indictments, sentences". CNET News . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  22. ↑ Brandt, Andrew (2007-12-17). "True crime: The botnet barons". InfoWorld. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.