FBI: "Botherders" Hijacked Millions Of PCs

(CBS)  Written by CBS News' Emily Rand.

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The FBI and the Department of Justice have charged several alleged cyber criminals responsible for gaining control of over one million personal computers and using them for identity theft and mass distribution of spyware, officials announced Wednesday.

The suspects targeted victims' computers, known as "botnets," and operated them remotely by an outside "botherder" in order to steal personal information or distribute software, the FBI charges.

"An attacker gains control by infecting the computer with a virus or other malicious code and the computer continues to operate normally," FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James Finch said in a statement. "The majority of victims are not even aware that their computer has been compromised or their personal information exploited."

FBI Cyber Division Deputy Assistant Director Shawn Henry declined to say how long the investigation has been going on, saying only that today's release is the result of an investigation that has been going on "for many months in many cities."

These subjects have been charged with, or arrested for botnet-related computer fraud and abuse:

James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is alleged to have operated a botnet that infected Chicago area hospitals. This botnet infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide.

Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged with using botnets to send a high volume of traffic to intended recipients to cause damage by impairing the availability of such systems.

Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, Washington, is alleged to have used a large botnet network and spammed tens of millions of unsolicited email messages to advertise his website from which he offered services and products.

The FBI is working with computer industry partners, including the Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team, to notify botnet victims, but officials stress that they will not be able to contact everyone whose computer was affected.

"We have been identifying as many victims as possible, but we cannot identify all of them," Henry said, "People need to take specific action to remediate their computer from attacks otherwise their computers will remain in compromised positions."

In addition to installing security systems, the FBI encourages computer users to avoid botnets to us caution when giving out personal information online. The federal government and technology industry also provide online resources, such as onguardonline.gov, that offer computer security tips.

FBI officials stress that this is an ongoing investigation and that they will continue to try to raise public awareness about the dangers of not securing personal computers.

"This is not unlike when the police alert people of a problem in a neighborhood and residents are encouraged to lock doors and turn on the lights at night," Henry said, "People need to take specific action to protect themselves."
Emily Rand

[michellem99-2009]

I USE XP HOME. I would love vista pulled as it poorly done. I think it is wrong of them to rip you off. The more you tell us about Vista the more I am turned from it. So Vista shounds like,NANNY NANNY to me. Fron what I read Vista does far less than home xp. Not say when we buy a pc they only give us an image cd of the OS and not the Microsoft one. I can't get any proper answer other can't do that. So I backed off they won't. I have McAFEE. I have never used Vista but heard others cuss it. I use email to talk to friends. I don't need a nanny as I am 52.

[mb99]

The Internet has become an indispensable part of our nation infrastructure not unlike our system of roads. Yet we don't let uneducated, unskilled, individuals without minimum equipment standards jump on and use our roads - because they'd make a complete mess of things and cause damage to others.

Maybe it's time we took the same stance regarding the Internet. Why should morons who don't know what they're doing and won't invest in proper software continue to be tolerated? They are at least half of the problem.

[waganupa]

Government agents can get into just about any computer any time they want to legally without a court order - now. That practice is unethical based on the principles of our culture in the U.S. . Why? Most pc's are just that : "personal" computers. When someone enters the personal realm of another without their permission it is invasion of privacy - akin to walking in their head with dirty feet. Bots, rootkits, popup ads and spam are the same concept. All are unethical. All should be punished with vehement certainty.

Use a stateful firewall, a secure (hardened) operating system (not ms products they are not secure and violate your privacy by default) and don't give out any personal information on the internet - and understand that even with all those precautions, government agents can still monitor you. Talk to your elected government representatives (in person if you can) with a vengence about your right to privacy. Tell them they should be maintaining a governmental system consistent with our cultural understanding of "freedom".

[hugepeter]

FBI has done really a good job. If you blog or have a webpage check out http://www.widgetmate.com

[omega39-2009]

Posted by FeelFree1

Use Mozilla Firefox and the add on "adblock", you can overlay the flash advertisements and effectively block all of them (and the other ads as well) using wildcards.

[omega39-2009]

This could all be eliminated if people put just a little effort into protecting their computers. Use a full firewall not Windows XPs, there are several good ones such as zone alarm that are free.Also, google now provides a free version of Spyware Doctor, this program is far superior to free versions of Spybot and Adaware.

[abigail70]

"If botnet ops should be penalized for their activity, so too should Microsoft, Apple, most Hollywood movie distribution companies, and the US government."

Inversely, this could be construed as "if the big guys do wrong things, the little guys should be able to as well."

I don't care how big or small a person or company is. If they're doing something like this, they need to be punished in a serious manner. The article infers that these "little guys" took control of anywhere from thousands to TENS OF MILLIONS of computers. If you're stupid enough to unlawfully hack into even one other computer, you're fair game. Perhaps if enough small-time folks get busted, then more attention will be brought to the problem, and the big guys will be focused on. One can only hope.

I just can't believe that if company B is getting away with something, person A should be able to, as well. Illegal is illegal, regardless of the quantity of perpetrators.

[gunnerv1]

Execute them with a single bullet to the back of the head and then charge their family the cost of the bullet

[brianbwb-2009]

SPAM ALERT

to cbgerry, the free ad plugging your site is not so different from bots, spam, drm, or any other unwanted activity our computers do "for us", we participate in these forums to exchange info, not to plug our own sites.

Bot nets are a fact of life, used even by the US government to spy on, or otherwise control our property. Windows Vista uses the same techniques in its registration programs, Hollywood uses it for info gathering, courtesy of MS and the US government.

I object to the notion of "its bad, except for when the rich, or the government does it, then its good".

If botnet ops should be penalized for their activity, so too should Microsoft, Apple, most Hollywood movie distribution companies, and the US government.

Don't misunderstand, I don't condone the activity, I simply condemn the "only jack the little guys" approach, while ignoring, even codifying into law the same activity as done by the rich, and the government.

[bluecollarpcnet]

This is a MAJOR plus and takedown for mainstream computer users. The great efforts and work here are to be greatly applauded. Amounts of infected computers in malware botnets is well over 100 million - from 7 to 11 percent worldwide. The actual bust of one has been rare. There has been a major campaign over 2 years to get computers and people protected. I have personally launched a website, groups, and forums as help. Not tooting my own horn here (with over 1 million hits this year) but those of the ignorant, apathetic, and plain niave operators - this is a major bulltin and wake up call once again for the average operator consumer. Fantastic effort, reward. Listen to my podcast too "Malware Botnet Cartel" http://www.bluecollarpc.net/downloads/DestroyBotnetCartel.wma
Webmaster http://www.BlueCollarPC.Net