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Infected PCs for Rent

prostoalex writes "UK authorities are raising concerns about entire networks of infected and compromised PCs (BotNets) being available for sale or rent to the highest bidder. The Register quotes a detective from Hi-Tech Crime Unit saying 'The trade of BotNets of compromised machines is becoming an industry in itself. Organised crime is making use of this industry.'"

13 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. I'm going to rent a bunch of these by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Install distcc, and install Gentoo in record time.

    1. Re:I'm going to rent a bunch of these by irokitt · · Score: 4, Funny

      On the same note, SETI@home is also interested.

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    2. Re:I'm going to rent a bunch of these by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 5, Funny

      you mean in under 8 hours???

  2. Gives a whole new meaning by overshoot · · Score: 5, Funny
    to "on-demand computing."

    Kinda sad to see IBM, HP, and others lagging so badly in commercializing this important new technology.

    --
    Lacking <sarcasm> tags, /. substitutes moderation as "Troll."
  3. The real culprits... by D-Cypell · · Score: 5, Funny

    Good to see big industry players using their expertise and experience to enable new market creation.

  4. Damn by Beer_Smurf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn, one more thing I can't do with my mac.

  5. Kiss Me, I'm Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure this will be redundant by the time it's posted, but at the bottom of the article:

    The new Microsoft Partner Programme is here. Bringing all the advantages of previous programmes into a single framework, we've made it easier than ever for Partners to engage with Microsoft.

    With three levels to choose from, you can select the one that works best for your organisation.

    Become a Registered Member today. No fee. No obligation. Just clear business benefits, including:

    Free business-critical telephone support (charged at national rate)

    Free online technical support

    Online sales and marketing resources

    Sales and technical training

    For more information, please visit: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/programme

  6. Re:Terrorism? by nil5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Me? I'm pulling IPv4 stakes up. Only been spammed once by someone with an IPv6 address.


    Looks like the only person using IPv6 is a spammer!

  7. Despite all this ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia computers rent you.

  8. Infected PC's for Sale??? by WwWonka · · Score: 5, Funny

    I find this article on infected PC's/networks for rent so full of sh..#$.\10# \AE \3H......

    Welcome!

    This PC is for rent.
    Please contact us at

    www.Claria.com

  9. I told you!!! by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Funny

    I told you /. was a DDOS front! Most of these 'stories' are placed by competiors of the companies linked from the stories...

    I TOLD YOU!!!

  10. A comedy in One Part. by YankeeInExile · · Score: 4, Funny

    Scene: A Courtroom

    Bailiff The first court of Onlineia is now in session, Honorable Judge Foo presiding. Judge I have read your complaint. Let's hear from the plaintiff. Plaintiff Thank you, your honor. In our case, we intend to prove that the defendant, in violation of our terms of service, removed the viruses we had gone through great trouble to install and operate on a network of computers, leading to considerable monetary damages in the sum of $1.2 million Judge You may call your first witness Plaintiff Thank you, your honor. We call J. Random Hacker

    Bailiff swears in J.R.H.

    Plaintiff Mister Hacker. Did you, on 21 May 2004 rent for exclusive use, twenty-four hours of access to our BotNet DeLuxe service? JRH I did Plaintiff And what was your intention when you rented use of the cluster? JRH Well, at first I just wanted to set up a program to repeatedly check the home page on slasdot, trying to get first post Plaintiff And how did you go about that? JRH Well, I wrote this monster of a VB Program, but it was really buggy and I could not get it to work, so I decided to switch to Ruby Plaintiff And what happened next? JRH Well, I chose to install Geekdist Linux 12.11 because it came with the toolchain I was accustomed to Plaintiff But, did you not agree, when you rented this exclusive access not to damage our network in any way? JRH I guess so ... Plaintiff And would you not consider removing our access to these machines a form of damage? JRH No, sir, I do not. I consider the machines upgraded Plaintiff No further questions.

    ... write your own ending.

    I think a good path for D. to take would be to show that P. does not have standing to bring the case in the first place, but that probably would have come up in pretrial motions... I have to go work

    --
    How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
  11. Re:Terrorism? by PurpleFloyd · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Speculation is worth nothing"

    Jeez, you must be really new here, huh?

    --

    That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.