Security news
Security news12 November 2007
Botnet boss faces up to 60 years in jail 26-year-old security consultant stole PayPal identities
Botnet computers under the remote control of a hacker can be used for identity theft.
Experts at IT security and control firm Sophos have welcomed news that a man faces a stiff sentence, after admitting he controlled an army of 250,000 compromised PCs in order to harvest PayPal usernames and passwords and other personal information.
John Schiefer, a 26-year-old computer security consultant for 3G Communications, faces up to 60 years in a federal jail and a fine of $1.75 million, after collecting - with other gang members - a botnet comprising of a quarter of a million computers, sometimes controlling them from work.
Los Angeles-based Schiefer, who used the names "Acid" and "Acidstorm" online, faces charges of developing and distributing malware to poorly-defended computers, and then using them for the purposes of identity theft. Having stolen PayPal usernames and passwords, Schiefer and other gang members, made purchases from unwitting victims' accounts.
Under terms of a plea agreement filed by Schiefer on 9 November, he will plead guilty to four felony counts: accessing protected computers to conduct fraud, disclosing illegally intercepted electronic communications, wire fraud and bank fraud.
"Everyone who has a computer runs the risk of it becoming part of a cybercriminal botnet. Only by properly securing PCs with up-to-date anti-virus, firewalls, security patches and a good serving of common sense, can consumers defend themselves from having their Windows computers silently taken over by hackers for their own ends," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The authorities should be applauded for investigating crimes like this and bringing criminals to justice, but there are plenty of other hackers engaged in these activities who are still managing to escape the clutches of the law."
Zombie computers - are your PCs under someone else's control?
Botnet computers, also known as zombies, can be used by criminal hackers to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks, spread spam messages or to steal confidential information.
As spammers become more aggressive, collaborating with virus writers to create armies of zombie computers, legitimate organizations with hijacked computers are being identified as a source of spam. This not only harms the company's reputation, but can also cause the business's email to be blocked by others.
Sophos ZombieAlert™ advises service subscribers when any computer on their network is found to have sent spam to Sophos's extensive global network of spam traps, and provides rapid notification to customers if their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are listed in public Domain Name Server Block Lists (DNSBL). This information helps customers locate, disinfect, and protect these systems from future attacks.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can control network access and defend against the threats of spam, hackers, spyware and viruses.
About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
