Posted on 02/10/2006 7:38:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO – A California man was indicted Friday on federal charges of creating a robot-like network of hijacked computers that helped him and two others bring in $100,000 for installing unwanted ad software. The indictment from a federal grand jury in Seattle also accuses Christopher Maxwell, 20, and two unidentified conspirators of crippling Seattle's Northwest Hospital with a ”botnet” attack in January 2005.
Authorities say the hospital attack caused $150,000 in damages, shut down the intensive care unit and disabled doctors' pagers.
“Some people consider botnets a mere annoyance or inconvenience for consumers but they are highly destructive,” U.S. Attorney John McKay said in a statement. “In this case, the impact of the botnet could have been deadly.”
The two-count indictment charges Maxwell with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and commit computer fraud.
A “bot” like the one Maxwell is accused of operating is a program that surreptitiously installs itself on a computer so it can be controlled by a hacker. A botnet is a network of such robot, or “zombie,” computers, that can harness their collective power to do considerable damage or send out huge amounts of junk e-mail.
The creator of a botnet typically uses a computer or computers to search the Internet for vulnerable machines. After installing malicious code, a bot program connects to the network where it will receive commands from the operator of the network.
Authorities charge that Maxwell used a botnet to secretly install unwanted Internet adware, which makes advertising displays pop up on a user's computer, and then earn commissions from a number of companies.
If convicted Maxwell, faces a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
As part of his network, authorities said Maxwell hijacked high-powered server networks at California State University, Northridge, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Los Angeles.
For this kind of crap, he should be sentenced to 30 days in the electric chair.
I'm all for it.
Any company that paid him money for ads should be charged with the same crime.
In a way it is like hiring a gang of graffiti "artist" to go around the city painting your company logo on every wall or flat space they find.
Personally, I'm getting real tired of these stupid SOB's. I second the motion to call out the vigilante's and string a couple of them up as an example.
30 days in a chair with me and a baseball bat.
Cruel and unusual..... 28 days oughtta do it.
This is insideous. It is time to crack-down on spammers hard. I hate these slimeballs.
Shoot them, and then give them a fair trial.
hate to be the one responsible for security at the hospital.
Shouldn't have been able to do this.
Article says they hit some university servers, perhaps the hospital was part of it.
edu's are notoriously weak..
And dumb too. Any company that I get a spam ad about is a company that I'll do my darndest not to do business with.
I'm sure those ICU surgeons just loved those Viagra ads.
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