Dutch Prosecutors Sentence Jail To Cyber Gang

Two Dutch men have been engaged in a massive computer hacking scam where they infected more than one million PCs with adware and other malicious software. Prosecutors are aiming jail terms for the duo. The alleged culprits, aged 20 and 29 are blamed for creating two viruses and setting them afloat on the Internet.

The offense is the biggest cyber crime ever prosecuted in Holland, said Desiree Leppens, spokeswoman for the organized crime unit of the National Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam.

The pair used 'Toxbot' to engage a global network of zombie PCs and installed adware on it. They also used 'Wayphisher' to access credit card information and account information from online banks. The operation yielded net earnings of 60,000 euros ($99,000) over six months.

Prosecutors have also charged the defendants for threatening 180Solutions Inc., an advertising software developer with a denial of service attack following a payment dispute. The company is now called Zango Inc.

In November 2006, Zango came to terms with the Federal Trade Commission for $3 million after the FTC came to know that the distributors of the company's software were installing it on computers without their owners' permission. For this they would exploit flaws in operating systems or Web browsers.

The Dutch Public Attorney is pursuing a three-year imprisonment for the man aged 20 and a two-year imprisonment for the 29-year old. Both men have been denying all charges, as per local media reports.

The prosecutors have also alleged the pair to be engaged in phishing scams. phishing involves creating fake websites to dig out private information such as bank account or credit card particulars. The culprits have used Wayphisher, a Trojan horse to infect machines that would redirect the user's request from a genuine bank site to a phishing site.

Four other individuals involved in the case are awaiting trial. One of them is an alleged leader who is 22 years old. As per practice the Dutch authorities have not revealed the identity of the suspect.

This person has charges from the FBI for performing a DoS attack against Zango. FBI is advancing on the case.

Related article: DDoS Attacks In China Leave The Websites Wounded

» SPAMfighter News - 1/23/2007