John Schiefer, a computer consultant, has pleaded guilty to creating a botnet of 250,000 PCs which were used for identity theft and siphoning cash from bank accounts.
Specifically, he was charged with accessing protected computers to conduct fraud; disclosing illegally intercepted electronic communications; wire fraud and bank fraud. They're all federal offences, the International Herald Tribune reports. And so he faces up to 60 years in prison and (and?) a $1.75m (£850,000) fine.
He's the first (but we hope not the last) person charged with running such a botnet.
The story says that
prosecutors contend that Schiefer and his associates installed malicious computer code, called malware, that gave them remote access to the computers without the owners' knowledge. The "zombie" computers then eavesdropped on the users' electronic communications.
Schiefer culled user names, passwords for the PayPal online payment service, and other account information that he used to make unauthorized purchases and passed on to others.
And the final flourish:
Prosecutors contend that Schiefer also defrauded a Dutch Internet advertising company who hired him to install its programs on people's computers with their permission. In his role as a consultant for the Dutch company, Schiefer is accused of installing the programs on more than 150,000 personal computers without the owners' consent.
We'd like to know more about quite how this Dutch advertising company had access to 150,000 peoples' computers. Enlightenment welcome.
