Jeanson James Ancheta, a 20 year-old man from Los Angeles, has been arrested
by the FBI and charged with running a network of zombie
computers with software installed that allows them to be controlled remotely.
Ancheta has been accused of using the botnet to
install adware on other people's computers, some at the Weapons Division of the
US Naval Air Warfare
Center in China Lake, California and at the
US Department of
Defense.
He was captured in an elaborate sting operation when FBI agents lured him to
their local office on the pretext of collecting computer equipment.
Ancheta has been indicted on 17 counts including 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. He faces a possible 50 years in prison.
Ancheta is alleged to have made £35,000 from his activities and invested some
of the money in more computers to extend the reach of his activities. He also
apparently bought himself a new BMW.
"Zombie botnets are a growing security problem as they pump out spam
campaigns, steal information, or launch attacks against corporate networks,"
said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for
Sophos.
"In this case it appears that they were being used primarily for displaying
unwanted pop-up advertisements, filling the hacker's pockets with cash."
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