From: InfoSec News (alertsinfosecnews.org)
Date: Wed Jan 17 2007 - 00:33:11 CST

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http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2172694/botnet-herders-face-jailtime

By Tom Sanders in California
vnunet.com
17 Jan 2007

Authorities are seeking jailterms of up to 3 years against two botnet
operators who alleged to have commanded a network of 1.5m computers.

The 20 and 29 year old Dutch male suspects are accused of to have
constructing two viruses that were set free on the internet. The Toxbot
worm was used to recruit a worldwide network of zombie PCs on which they
installed adware software. They deployed the Wayphisher worm to steal
credit card information and account information for online banks.

The operation netted an estimated total of 60,000 over a period of 6
months.

The Dutch public attorney is seeking a three years jail term for the
20-year-old. His accomplice is facing a maximum jail term of two years.

The two have consistently denied all charges, according to local media
reports. Evidence however has been gathered from the accused computers,
witness statements as well as wire taps on the suspect's internet
connections and phone lines.

Dutch authorities as a rule don't release the identity of suspects. Four
more individuals are awaiting trial in the case, including the alleged
22-year-old ring leader.

The last is also facing charges from the FBI for launching a denial of
service attack against the Zango adware network. He is believed to have
undertaken the attack in retaliation for the company's refusal to pay
affiliate fees for the adware installations on the computers that were
under the group's control.

Zango earlier filed a legal complaint against the man for violating its
policies, but has since dropped the charges to allow the FBI case to
advance.

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