ROM-DOS Posted November 8, 2005 CID Share Posted November 8, 2005 FBI agents bust 'Botmaster' LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A 20-year-old man accused of using thousands of hijacked computers, or "bot nets," to damage systems and send massive amounts of spam across the Internet was arrested on Thursday in what authorities called the first such prosecution of its kind. Jeanson James Ancheta, who prosecutors say was a well-known member of the "Botmaster Underground" -- or the secret network of computer hackers skilled at bot attacks -- was taken into custody after being lured to FBI offices in Los Angeles, said U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek. A bot is a program that surreptitiously installs itself on a computer and allows the hacker to control the computer. A bot net is a network of such robot computers, which can harness their collective power to do considerable damage or send out huge quantities of spam. Mrozek said the prosecution was unique because, unlike in previous cases, Ancheta was accused of profiting from his attacks -- by selling access to his "bot nets" to other hackers and planting adware -- software that causes ads to pop up -- into infected computers. "Normally what we see in these cases, where people set up these bot systems to do, say, denial of service attacks, they are not doing it for profit, they are doing it for bragging rights," he said. "This is the first case in the nation that we're aware of where the guy was using various bot nets in order to make money for himself." Ancheta has been indicted on a 17-count federal indictment that charges him with conspiracy, attempted transmission of code to a protected computer, transmission of code to a government computer, accessing a protected computer to commit fraud and money laundering. Ancheta, who was expected to make an initial court appearance late on Thursday or Friday, faces a maximum term of 50 years in prison if convicted on all counts, though federal sentencing guidelines typically call for lesser penalties. Prosecutors did not name the companies that they said paid Ancheta and said the firms did not know any laws were broken. Mrozek said Ancheta, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, was thought to have made nearly $60,000 from the planted adware, using the money to pay for servers to carry out additional attacks, computer equipment and a BMW. He said Ancheta was taken into custody after FBI agents called him into their offices to pick up computer equipment that had been seized in an earlier raid. Among the computers he attacked, Mrozek said, were some at the Weapons Division of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California and at the U.S. Department of Defense. [DON'T mess with US ~ ~ . . .Hope he gets 50 years] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhoughtaling Posted November 8, 2005 CID Share Posted November 8, 2005 kinda crazy what people will do these days for bragging rights or money 50 years is a long time to think about it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyswhirl Posted November 8, 2005 CID Share Posted November 8, 2005 Lock him up and throw the key away and give him TRS-80s to past the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resopalrabotnick Posted November 8, 2005 CID Share Posted November 8, 2005 people like that should be put into general population in the pen and the other inmates should be told he's a child molester/rapist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disturbed Posted November 8, 2005 CID Share Posted November 8, 2005 i disagree with that....the govt itself fails to convict murderers and rapists but pursues all the action it can to catch computer crimes and music sharing.... <= ghay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunted Posted November 8, 2005 CID Share Posted November 8, 2005 cause they mess shit up and deserve it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resopalrabotnick Posted November 9, 2005 CID Share Posted November 9, 2005 it probably looks like a lot of effort being put in to catch cybercrime because it is so easy to do. just sit in an office and follow the electronic trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROM-DOS Posted November 9, 2005 Author CID Share Posted November 9, 2005 i disagree with that....the govt itself fails to convict murderers and rapists but pursues all the action it can to catch computer crimes and music sharing.... <= ghay . . .he'll only serve five years, if that, and be working for the Feds ~ the rest of his life ~ with the threat of 50 years always hanging over his head. . . if you know what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disturbed Posted November 9, 2005 CID Share Posted November 9, 2005 it probably looks like a lot of effort being put in to catch cybercrime because it is so easy to do. just sit in an office and follow the electronic trail. if that was so ez everyone would have that job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resopalrabotnick Posted November 9, 2005 CID Share Posted November 9, 2005 don't need everyone to have that job. the investigators probably didn't need to leave the office. hell, they even conned the guy into coming to the office to get arrested. (dumbass!) they do all the detective work online, if they need to seize a machine they send the goon squad. talk about a cushy desk job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROM-DOS Posted November 9, 2005 Author CID Share Posted November 9, 2005 . . .maybe a two-factor authentication solution for everyone and every site might be the key to solve a lot of security issues. http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=14106&hed=Feds+Want+Better+Net+Security§or=Industries&subsector=SecurityAndDefense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkieXL Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 What a pathetic waste of skill & resources, botnets mass-producing spam...want to impress us? gain access & delete Citibank's accounts receivable data.....50 years at least, just for the stupidity level of this clown. :evil6: -JxL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan314 Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 Wow, thats very interesting.. i didnt know there was a whole underground society of hackers and botters What risks our computers have now a days = / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinOhioRR Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 Wow, thats very interesting.. i didnt know there was a whole underground society of hackers and botters What risks our computers have now a days = / you needa get otu more......there are millions of those kinda groups......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan314 Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 getting out wouldnt teach you that... staying in more would teach you that buddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinOhioRR Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 dont be a dick..........yo knwo what i meant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan314 Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 i know man im just messin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepnklown Posted November 10, 2005 CID Share Posted November 10, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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