Research revealed that Vigorish Viper a Chinese cybercrime syndicate has been central to the sponsorship controversy surrounding several European football clubs, including clubs in the English Premier League.
In a cybercrime investigation, Infoblox has unmasked a threat actor that the company has named “Vigorish Viper.” Vigorish Viper is a Chinese organized crime syndicate that utilizes a sophisticated technology suite to take advantage of the global $1.7 trillion illegal sports gambling economy, with links to money laundering and human trafficking operations across Asia. This Infoblox discovery marks a significant milestone in the ongoing battle against global cybercrime using DNS intelligence.
“Vigorish Viper represents one of the most sophisticated and important threats to digital security that we have discovered to date.”
Dr. Renée Burton, Vice President, Infoblox Threat Intel
“Infoblox Threat Intel used cutting-edge DNS research to discover the technologies underpinning the syndicate. Vigorish Viper created a complex infrastructure with multiple layers of traffic distribution systems (TDSs) using DNS CNAME records and JavaScript, which makes it incredibly difficult to detect. These systems are complemented by their own encrypted communications and custom-developed applications, making their activities not only elusive but also remarkably resilient,” said Dr. Renée Burton, Vice President, Infoblox Threat Intel.
Vigorish Viper is a name derived from the gambling world’s exorbitant fees levied on unlucky bettors. The term vigorish, or vig for short, is used by organized crime syndicates to refer to these fees. Viper refers to the complex combination of TDSs and convoluted brand relationships that the actor employs to route users to content. Vigorish Viper leverages sponsorship of popular European sports teams to advertise for their illegal gambling sites, which primarily target Greater China.
