Dutch police smash Shadow botnet

The Dutch High Tech Crime Unit has arrested two people and shut down the Shadow botnet, which is thought to contain over 100,000 compromised computers.

A 19-year-old Dutch national is accused of running the botnet and police also arrested a Brazilian man who was trying to buy the use of it. The police have now asked security software vendor Kaspersky Labs to help shut the botnet down.

Eddy Willems, security evangelist with Kaspersky Labs Benelux, who worked closely with the High Tech Crime Unit, believes this case clearly illustrates how the security industry can help law enforcement in the fight against cybercrime.

A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service agreed: "The Public Prosecution Service and the police worked together with Kaspersky Lab on this case with full contentment."

The Dutch police are asking anyone who finds that they were part of the Shadow botnet to contact them and register a complaint. Kaspersky Labs have set up a web page detailing how to remove the Shadow malware.

The FBI is also reported to have taken part in the case, as the organisation is mounting a major campaign against criminal use of botnets. Previous successes have included the arrest of a teenager in New Zealand who was writing botnet code.