Botnet Worm Hacker Arrested
New Zealand teenager accused of controlling botnet hacking of over 1 million computers and nearly $13 million in damages.
An 18-year-old New Zealand youth is under suspicion of infecting over 1.3 million computers worldwide with a worm in order to create a botnet which he then used to carry out DDoS attacks, among other things, without the knowledge of unsuspecting PC users.
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New Zealand teenager accused of controlling botnet hacking of over 1 million computers and nearly $13 million in damages.
An 18-year-old New Zealand youth is under suspicion of infecting over 1.3 million computers worldwide with a worm in order to create a botnet which he then used to carry out DDoS attacks, among other things, without the knowledge of unsuspecting PC users.
According to Australian and New Zealand media sources, the botnet had allegedly been used for a ferocious attack on IRC servers and systems of various security firms, whereby a University of Philadelphia server was inadvertently
taken out.
Operating under the codename "AKILL," the New Zealand youth accused of deploying the AKBot worm was arrested in collaboration with the FBI and is under interrogation, according to New Zealand police. "He is extremely clever", said Maarten Kleintjes, head of the department for computer criminality, "he is one of the best in the world at developing this type of software", the dpa reports.
The 18-year-old is accused of heading a global gang known as the "A-Team" which worked primarily in New Zealand, Holland and the USA. The irreversible damage caused is estimated to amount to some EUR 13.5 million. The youth's computer was seized during the police raid and is now being examined.
Parallel to events in New Zealand, the FBI reports that eight suspects have been charged and have either pleaded guilty or have been convicted for botnet activities within the framework of operation "Bot Roast" which has been active since June .
Furthermore, 13 arrest warrants have been issued.
Source: http://www.halflifesource.com/news/2007/11/30/article10262.htm
Zer0Man
ghost 16 years ago
lol even so daniel if you employ a botnet that large… even if you are good it is kind of hard not to get caught… you have to keep that in mind :p
ghost 16 years ago
damn everyone is gettin hacked cuz i saw visa & mastercard got hacked as well as T-Mobile servers have and even some government ones in the UK geez its the Cyber revolution :)
ghost 16 years ago
Lol I live in NZ where this person lives. Owen aka Akill… Leader of Ateam, has just been caught and taken to court awaiting final verdict, all in all = 7years in prison, but looks like he will just serve community service. Just thought I would update yous on the news. :D
ghost 16 years ago
Lol I live in NZ where this person lives. Owen aka Akill… Leader of Ateam, has just been caught and taken to court awaiting final verdict, all in all = 7years in prison, but looks like he will just serve community service. Just thought I would update yous on the news. :D
ghost 16 years ago
well, if you're being legit, then i'd say they probably cut a deal with him to help catch such worms and other malicious programs probably. He might be working somewhere in network security or some shit so i'd watch out. There's always someone out there who's smarter than you!!