Free Republic

One of the Internet security companies (McAfee) that monitors hacker activity (by compiling data on attacks their clients have suffered), estimates that more computers are being turned into zombies in China, than in the United States. At least during the last three months of 2009. Both countries have about 12 million zombie computers. Many of 1.5 billion computers in the world are infected with secret programs that enable criminals, or intelligence agencies, to control these PCs, turning them into "zombies". These captive computers are organized into "botnets" of thousands, or even a million or more, PCs that do the bidding...

NEW YORK, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Computer code writers in Europe are the chief suspects in the creation of programs that turn other computers into zombie-like slaves for Internet crimes. Computer experts in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are likely behind the newest computer crime plaguing the Internet, which has turned innocent users into unwitting participants and left security experts stumped, The New York Times reported. By inserting small programs into others computers, electronic criminals can harness the collective power of multiple computers to commit more elaborate online crimes. "It's the perfect crime, both low-risk and high-profit," computer security researcher Gadi...