Slashdot Mirror
Botnet Brain Pleads Guilty
spge writes "Now that Jeanson James Ancheta has plead guilty to spamming, computer misuse and fraud, it might be worth scanning through the original indictment document, which includes a step-by-step account of how someone goes about setting up an adware business, manages botnets and (thankfully) gets caught." From the BBC article: "'Mr Ancheta was responsible for a particularly insidious string of crimes,' said a spokesman for the US attorney's office in Los Angeles, Thom Mrozek. 'He hijacked somewhere in the area of half a million computer systems. This not only affected computers like the one in your home, but it allowed him and others to orchestrate large-scale attacks.'" We discussed Ancheta's arrest back in October of last year.
Security-testing software creator pleads guilty to helping thousands of Internet users see the security issues they're unwilling and too irresponsible to fix, opening the door for other security experts to blog about easy fixes to prevent attacks in the future.
Let the worm off the hook. He's learned his lesson. Look at how bad he feels!
"...includes a step-by-step account of how someone goes about setting up an adware business, manages botnets and (thankfully) gets caught..". Free and legal guide for spybot attacks
They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me. -Nathaniel Lee
I read that thinking "Jenna Jameson did what? And how badly did the submitter mangle her name?"
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I am a teenager and I have gotten in trouble with school for "hacking"
I had no malintentions, but I see why they have to do such penalties.
However, the main problem is that the code is not secure, not that I was messing around during a free period and found a way to bypass the "security."
I encourage students and others curious to set their own "box" up and use that to "hack" into.
I do not see hobbyist computer hacking as a REAL threat, because if they can hack into a system, that system is definitely NOT secure from true hackers with illegal, immoral fraud schemes, etc in mind.
Remember, set up your own comp to hack into, you will gain the knowledge from seeing how these things work, and not get in trouble.
Windows? I haven't used that since 1999. Fix the Slashdot Problems
Every once in a while I misread the Slashdot article titles - albeit because they're worded in such as way as to be easily misconstrued. Do the editors do this on purpose just to mess with my head? Is that part of the fun of being an editor? :)
From the link:
"Under a plea agreement, Mr Ancheta is expected to receive from four years to six years in prison when he is sentenced on 1 May, though the deal has to be approved by a judge.
He also agreed to pay $15,000 (£8,800) in restitution to the military facilities affected and forfeit the proceeds of his illicit activities, including more than $60,000 (£35,000) in cash and a 1993 BMW. "
Anyone believe he had only 60 thousand in the bank?
4-6 years, will probably get out in 2.
Just a slap on the hand.
This has been another valuable and informative opinion from:
Catahoula!
he'd have made sure his bots don't infect .mil and .gov computers, and nobody would've cared...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The "mainstream media" story on this guy that I read (on cnn.com, probably provided via the Associated Press) prominently mentioned the fact that some of the computers this guy controlled were military computers. The first thing that struck me upon reading that was "they're just trying to make tihs guy seem more sinister than he actually is; his software probably infected those military computers randomly, the same way they infected any others." How much do you wanna bet that all this "ZOMG HE HAXORED TEH MILITARY!11!111 EVIL TERORIST HAXOR!111!111" brouhaha boils down to some lame-brained civvies working menial office or consulting jobs for the military getting their work machines (connected to the commodity Internet) infected?
The story was phrased in such a way that would easily make a technologically naive reader go "Wow, he 'hacked into' the military, so evil", but in reality, it was probably all done by his software.
With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
He also agreed to pay $15,000 (£8,800) in restitution to the military facilities affected and forfeit the proceeds of his illicit activities, including more than $60,000 (£35,000) in cash and a 1993 BMW.
If he hadn't have gotten that BMW, they might have never suspected...
The botnet brain plead guilty. That's really something. Now that a neural network of computers can be put on trial in court, what's next for our judicial system? Also, when did a "brain" of computers gain the ability to reason its own guilt?
Well, no time to read the summary. Gotta go to class!
...by just offering bounties to law enforcement agencies for the arrest and incarceration of guys like this? I mean, they've got cash to burn, and are by all accounts sinking alot into security enhancement, regardless of how effective you think that effort has been. Maybe offering $100k to the individual(s) responsible for getting a conviction would motivate law enforcment officials to devote more energy to these types of crimes. MS could also supply engineers with technical expertise if a smaller agency didn't have the requisite know-how in-house.
From Page 2 of the pdf:
...., IamJames85@yahoo.com...
ACHETA used the following usernames
That must have been a tough catch. Obviously this man is a super hacker.
Which would be what?
Having to offer a coupon for 5$ worth of free pop-ups to each of his victims?
Why not send his cellmate some of the penis enlargment pills and cialis pills that his botnet sent?
Fight Spammers!
Oh, wait. Never mind.
No he'll serve a minimum of four years inside, and to get out early he'll have to
agree to the terms of parole which will cover at least the remainder of the six years
1. no computer or internet access
2. his residence is searchable without probable cause
3. he'll have to pay the restition (at least $15,000) and for his weekly appointments with his parole officer.
4 he'll have to pay interest and penalties to the IRS for the income on ttheillicit proceeds he had to surrender.
5. and of course he'll have to maintain a job while on parole and afterwards, probably flipping hamburgers for minimum wage
he's fucked in ways most of us will never understand, just consider the implications of items 3 through 5.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
I think they should ship him off to India to be a tech support lackey for a few years. At least then, he indirectly gets to clean up his own mess.
Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
He'd be rich now if he hadn't forgotten this little snippet:
/* don't try to exploit this network */
if (hostname == chinalake.mil ||
hostname == disa.mil ||
hostname == *.mil) {
}
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.