Kairos Planet – a system that leaves a nasty taste

This software can do everything except create backups for large companies.

17 January 2017 by

Alexander Biringer | Biricon IT Services GmbH

Recently, I received a call from a customer who had been introduced to a new scheme that would supposedly allow him to earn €2,700 within 144 days by keeping his PC running for 10 hours a day and making 300 GB of his hard drive available. My immediate reply to his email was: please steer clear. Nobody pays that kind of money for such a short period when major data backup companies offer more space for far less money.

Kairos promises to sell storage space on private individuals’ PCs to large companies, with the PC owners receiving rental income in return.
However, this requires an annual licence fee, with several different packages available. As a little bonus, there is also supposed to be additional software for things like making calls that cannot be intercepted . . . except that nobody seems to know anything about these extra products, and no one could show us the software.

After I emailed the person who had recommended the scheme, asking them to think it over very carefully, we were given the opportunity to examine the software and made some alarming discoveries.
Even a quick Google search reveals that various websites are highly sceptical of this multi-level marketing scheme. For example:

Kairos Technology: Scam or Legitimate?

The software is made up of the following "licences":

Kairos Planet Licences and Promises

Standard

Licence

$125.00

per year

Return on investment in 147 days
15 GB rental
USD 0.85/day or USD 26/month
PC must run for 10 hours

Silver

Licence

$597.00

per year

Return on investment in 146 days
70 GB rental
USD 4.09/day or USD 124/month
PC must run for 10 hours

Gold

Licence

$1577.00

per year

Return on investment in 146 days
180 GB rental
USD 10.80/day or USD 324/month
PC must run for 10 hours

Platinum

Licence

$2777.00

per year

Return on investment in 146 days
300 GB rental
USD 19.02/day or USD 578/month
PC must run for 10 hours

The Software

Decompiled and Analysed

Backdoor

The software contains code that executes commands from the server on the local PC. This allows, for example, screenshots to be taken and sent back, programs to be launched and their output sent to Kairos, or all sorts of other malicious actions to be carried out beyond the user's control.

Rent Module

This module's version is checked and, if necessary, a new version is downloaded from the Kairos website. Additional modules can be downloaded using the code shown in the next image. Only the programmer presumably knows what additional functionality these new modules will bring.

Module Download Manager

This module checks whether modules that have already been downloaded or are available through the Module Manager are up to date, and automatically downloads updates without any user intervention or notification.

Rent module features

The Rent module is intended to reserve storage space on the disk. The following function has been built into the program for this purpose:

Creating a file
Hiding the data

That is all this program can currently do. It cannot write to this file or store backup fragments in it. There is not even a programming interface for this functionality.

How does Kairos earn their money if they can't store any backups?
The logical answer is through the sale of licences, which only works for as long as new licence holders join the system or existing ones renew for another year. No backup is created due to the software's lack of functionality, so there is no source of income from that either.

2. Why are the rental payments higher than the usual rates for conventional backup services?
Because otherwise the system wouldn't attract any private customers; people are only lured in by the promise of high profits.

3. What security concerns does the current software raise as of 16 January 2017?
The software can execute commands on the PC, meaning it can launch programs, transfer data in both directions and download additional functionality. This makes it possible to take screenshots at any time, capture keystrokes (e.g. when using online banking or entering credit card details), or do virtually anything on the PC without the user's knowledge.

This poses a risk to any business and must be prevented!

Both private users and businesses could also face entirely new claims from third parties. This is particularly true if the PC is used to hack into government systems, carry out a denial-of-service attack (D.O.S. attack) on other services or distribute illegal material. There are numerous potential risks under both criminal and civil law (revival of Nazi activities, liability for facilitating unlawful acts, hacking attacks on government systems, copyright infringement and much more…).

4. What happens if the system collapses?
As has happened very often with such systems, many will try to get their money back from whoever sold them the system, or will try to sue the company Kairos Planet Netzwerk. However, you cannot take anything from someone who cannot be found, or indeed from someone who currently has no money left.The Vienna-based GmbH is likewise nothing more than a letterbox company.

in Security Blog

Kairos Planet – a system that leaves a nasty taste