Who Operates the Badbox 2.0 Botnet?

Source: Krebs on Security

By Brian KrebsJanuary 26, 2026

The cybercriminals in control of Kimwolf — a disruptive botnet that has infected more than 2 million devices — recently shared a screenshot indicating they’d compromised the control panel for Badbox 2.0, a vast China-based botnet powered by malicious software that comes pre-installed on many Android TV streaming boxes. Both the FBI and Google say they are hunting for the people behind Badbox 2.0, and thanks to bragging by the Kimwolf botmasters we may now have a much clearer idea about that.

Our first story of 2026, The Kimwolf Botnet is Stalking Your Local Network, detailed the unique and highly invasive methods Kimwolf uses to spread. The story warned that the vast majority of Kimwolf infected systems were unofficial Android TV boxes that are typically marketed as a way to watch unlimited (pirated) movie and TV streaming services for a one-time fee.

Our January 8 story, Who Benefitted from the Aisuru and Kimwolf Botnets?, cited multiple sources saying the current administrators of Kimwolf went by the nicknames “Dort” and “Snow.” Earlier this month, a close former associate of Dort and Snow shared what they said was a screenshot the Kimwolf botmasters had taken while logged in to the Badbox 2.0 botnet control panel.

Discuss

Here is where members can discuss, give feedback, and present their ideas within the “Who Operates the Badbox 2.0 Botnet?” post. OnAir membership is required to participate.

The lead moderator for the discussions is onAir Curators. We enforce civil, honest, and respectful discourse across our network of hubs. For more information on commenting and giving feedback, see our Community Guidelines.

This is an open discussion on this news piece.

Home Forums Open Discussion

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Skip to toolbar