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Phatbot Author Arrested In Germany
Tacito writes "After arresting the author of Sasser, the German police claims having caught the author of Phatbot. To read the corresponding articles on Yahoo! News or Heise (use babelfish)."
jm.one adds a link to an "awesome Google translation" of the Heise article.
In other news, German Authorities claim they have caught the moth that got caught in the Mark II. News at 11.
Setec Astronomy
Police Sgt. Schultz said "I know NOTHING! NOTHING!!"
I must say that I find it very interesting that people are able to spread worms this fast nowadays. Back in the day it took weeks or months to see something, and most people had already patched the worms by then, but now it's crazy, a worm can propagate to the entire world in a day! Even faster than DNS :D Maybe something for the BIND developers to consider?
I just heard this news on NPR and thought I'd submit it to /. but I was scooped. NPR said that he was a "student" and lived with his parents. They said he admitted to being the Sasser worm author but failed to mention the Phatbot connection.
Here's an English language report that mentions a Microsoft connection.
If convicted, they should force him to work end user tech support during his jailtime. Of course, I'm sure some treaty out there would deem that cruel and unusual punishment and recommend execution as a more humane alternative. :)
WWJD?
JWRTFM!
about this country falling behind when it comes to technology. Rejoice, it doesnt seem to be that bad after all.
Please note, I am merely an American German Student. Any native German speakers are welcome to correct me:
Stuttgart (AP) - The presumed programming of the computer worm "Phatbot" was apprehended this weekend: as the state criminal police agency in Stuttgart and the responsible public prosecutor's office communicated on Saturday, an unemployed 21 year old was arrested near Lörrach. He admitted to having programmed, with other hackers, the Trojan "Agobot", which was later renamed to "Phatbot". There is currently no known direct connection between him and the "Sasser" programmer arrested in Niedersachsen.
The authorities searched for evidence on Friday, through the apartment of the suspect, as well as five possible accomplices in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Niedersachen, Hamburg and Bavaria. Numerous documents as well as computers and storage media were confiscated, and would have to be examined further. References from US Authorities helped provide evidence for the arrest of the suspect.
The 21 year-old had already aimed attacks at US and Brittish companies in 2003. The companies concerned were offline for several days and suffered damages in the millions. Also in Germany it was indicated that the suspect penetrated company computers. Aside from just the criminal consequences, substantial compesnation demands may be made.
The trojan mentioned is transferred to unsuspecting computers in order to take control of them. The initial evidence of the authorities of Baden-Württemberg points to the 21 year-old using the "Sasser" in order to develop the much more dangerous worm "Agobot/Phatbot".
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