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Mastermind of Mariposa botnet detained in Slovenia

AP , LJUBLJANA AND WASHINGTON
Thursday, Jul 29, 2010, Page 1

Leon Keber, spokesman for the Slovenian police, said the hacker, whom he didn’t identify, was detained and questioned. Keber said the police and the FBI would speak about the case at a press conference in Slovenia tomorrow.

The FBI said on Tuesday that a 23-year-old Slovenian known as Iserdo was picked up in Maribor in northwestern Slovenia 10 days ago, after a lengthy investigation by Slovenian police along with FBI and Spanish authorities.

Iserdo’s arrest comes about five months after Spanish police broke up the massive cyber scam, arresting three of the alleged ringleaders who operated the so-called Mariposa botnet, stealing credit cards and online banking credentials.

The botnet — a network of infected computers — appeared in December 2008 and infected more than half of the Fortune 1,000 companies and at least 40 major banks.

Botnets are networks of infected PCs that have been hijacked from their owners, often without their knowledge, and put into the control of criminals.

Jeffrey Troy, the FBI’s deputy assistant director for the cyber division, said on Tuesday that Iserdo’s arrest was a major break in the investigation.

He said it would take the alleged cyber mastermind off the street and prevent him from updating the malicious software code or somehow regaining control of computers that are still infected.

Officials declined to release Iserdo’s real name and the exact charges filed against him, but said the arrest took place about 10 days ago and the man has been released on bond.

“To use an analogy here,” said Troy, “as opposed to arresting the guy who broke into your home, we’ve arrested the guy that gave him the crowbar, the map and the best houses in the neighborhood. And that is a huge break in the investigation of cyber crimes.”

Troy said more arrests are expected and are likely to extend beyond Spain and Slovenia and include additional operators who allegedly bought the malware from Iserdo. Authorities would not say how much Iserdo supposedly charged, but said hackers could buy the software package for a certain amount, or pay more to have it customized or get additional features. Internet reports suggest the fees ranged from as much as US$500 for basic packages to more than US$1,300 for more advanced versions.

The Mariposa botnet was easily one of the world’s biggest botnets. It spread to more than 190 countries, researchers said. It also appears to be far more sophisticated than the botnet that was used to hack into Google and other companies in the attack that led Google to threaten to pull out of China.

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