Zombie PC
Botnet operation recruited millions of PCs
R E L A T E D   C O N T E N T
ADVERTISEMENT

Botnet operation controlled 1.5m PCs

Largest zombie army ever created

Tom Sanders in California, vnunet.com 21 Oct 2005
ADVERTISEMENT

A recently foiled botnet operation has turned out to be 15 times larger that police initially thought.

On further investigation, authorities found that the operation had put about 1.5 million computers and servers under its control. The crime ring was thought to have created a botnet of 100,000 systems, which they claimed was the largest ever detected.

A botnet is a collection of computers infected with a computer worm which puts the system under the worm creator's control without the owner's knowledge.

Botnets are commonly used to host illegal web content such as child pornography, to send out spam or to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Dutch police earlier this month made three arrests in the case. They have now extended the pre-trial imprisonment of two of the suspects, the 19 year-old prime suspect and a 22 year-old accomplice.

A third member of the group has been released for "personal reasons", according to Dutch IT news website Webwereld. 

The 22 year-old is likely to face additional blackmail charges for launching a DDoS attack against an unnamed US corporation. The group has already been linked to another DDoS attack against a corporation in the US.

Other charges include computer hacking, destruction of automated networks and installing adware and spyware

The Dutch public attorney said in a press release that he expects to make additional arrests in this case.

Police apprehended the trio on 4 October, confiscating computers, cash and a sports car during searches of the suspects' homes.


Permalink for this story | View trackbacks to this story

Trackback URL: http://www.vnunet.com/actions/trackback/2144375
R E A D E R   C O M M E N T S
M A R K E T P L A C E
F E A T U R E D   J O B S
Inchinnan | Getronics UK Ltd
Getronics is one of the UK's leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies with over 2,000 highly-skilled employees. With the recent acquisition of PinkRoccade, Getronics is now the world's largest European-owned ICT service provider with over... more >
Inchinnan | Getronics UK Ltd
Getronics is one of the UK's leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies with over 2,000 highly-skilled employees. With the recent acquisition of PinkRoccade, Getronics is now the world's largest European-owned ICT service provider with over... more >
United Kingdom | Evaxyx
Enterprise CRM / CDI Consultants, J2EE, Java, EJB Technical Architects Based UK with possible overseas travel. Salary - £30-65k + bonus + benefits We are currently looking for individuals with broad experience of working in a... more >
Birmingham | Aston University
ASTON UNIVERSITY TAKE THE LEAD IN TECHNOLOGY Aston University, in the Heart of Birmingham, has combined its traditional roots as an old University with a successful, dynamic and progressive approach to teaching, learning and research.... more >
More job opportunities