FBI: Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime
[Transferred from "Moderator Announcements Forum]
Posted: 14 Jun 2007 02:49 am Post subject: FBI: Over 1 Million
Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime
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FBI: Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime .....
Press Release
For Immediate Release
June 13, 2007
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel07/botnet061307.htm
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime
Today the Department of Justice and FBI announced the results of an
ongoing cyber crime initiative to disrupt and dismantle "botherders"
and elevate the public's cyber security awareness of botnets.
OPERATION BOT ROAST is a national initiative and ongoing
investigations have identified over 1 million victim computer IP
addresses. The FBI is working with our industry partners, including
the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University, to notify
the victim owners of the computers. Through this process the FBI may
uncover additional incidents in which botnets have been used to
facilitate other criminal activity.
A botnet is a collection of compromised computers under the remote
command and control of a criminal "botherder." Most owners of the
compromised computers are unknowing and unwitting victims. They have
unintentionally allowed unauthorized access and use of their computers
as a vehicle to facilitate other crimes, such as identity theft,
denial of service attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass
distribution of spam and spyware. Because of their widely distributed
capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the
national information infrastructure, and the economy.
"The majority of victims are not even aware that their computer has
been compromised or their personal information exploited," said FBI
Assistant Director for the Cyber Division James Finch. "An attacker
gains control by infecting the computer with a virus or other
malicious code and the computer continues to operate normally.
Citizens can protect themselves from botnets and the associated
schemes by practicing strong computer security habits to reduce the
risk that your computer will be compromised."
The FBI also wants to thank our industry partners, such as the
Microsoft Corporation and the Botnet Task Force, in referring criminal
botnet activity to law enforcement.
Cyber security tips include updating anti-virus software, installing a
firewall, using strong passwords, practicing good email and web
security practices. Although this will not necessarily identify or
remove a botnet currently on the system, this can help to prevent
future botnet attacks. More information on botnets and tips for cyber
crime prevention can be found online at www.fbi.gov.
The FBI will not contact you online and request your personal
information so be wary of fraud schemes that request this type of
information, especially via unsolicited emails. To report fraudulent
activity or financial scams, contact the nearest FBI office or police
department, and file a complaint online with the Internet Crime
Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.
To date, the following subjects have been charged or arrested in this
operation with computer fraud and abuse in violation of Title 18 USC
1030, including:
James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is alleged to have operated a
botnet that infected Chicago area hospitals. This botnet infected tens
of thousands of computers worldwide. (FBI Chicago);
Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged with an
Information with using botnets to send a high volume of traffic to
intended recipients to cause damage by impairing the availability of
such systems. (FBI Detroit); and
Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, Washington, is alleged to have used a
large botnet network and spammed tens of millions of unsolicited email
messages to advertise his website from which he offered services and
products. (FBI Seattle)
The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate individuals that
conduct cyber criminal acts.
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