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Interview with a Botmaster
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post is running a fascinating feature profiling a couple of botnet operators who make thousands of dollars each month installing adware on machines they infect. This is by far the most detailed examination of this issue I've seen so far -- and includes an interview with the CEO of 180Solutions, as well as interviews with some of the botmasters' victims. From the story: 'Most days, I just sit at home and chat online while I make money,' 0x80 says. 'I get one check like every 15 days in the mail for a few hundred bucks, and a buncha others I get from banks in Canada every 30 days.' He says his work earns him an average of $6,800 per month, although he's made as much as $10,000. Not bad money for a high school dropout.'"
I see a mod of "monster" hunters in this guy's future. --on the other hand, that's a nice chunk of change per month.. Oh, Wait... I've had to remove that Ad-Ware from customer machines... He's a witch. BURN HIM!!!!
I'm frankly astounded that no other major newspaper has a guy on the computer security beat full time, though technically I think Brian Krebs is attached to the Post's Web site. In any event, I think Krebs is absolutely the best reporter writing about computer security in the mainstream media today. At least since I stopped :-).
$6800-$10000 per month income. As checks. I'd bet that:
1. None of these companies are withholding federal and state taxes and social security
2. I'm also pretty sure he's not getting 1099'd either
3. He does not report this money as income
The IRS would love to get their mitts on this guy. Any income (including illegal income) is still taxable income to them.
I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
Sounds like he's painted as someone in an economically depressed area with few opportunities, using his skills to make a lot of money for himself.
Which would be the same as with a lot of criminal activities, it seems.
By the end of TFA he's wondering why he hasn't been caught yet, waiting for his little game to blow up in his face. Then talking about joining the Army so he can get into college and make a sustainable future for himself.
Interesting perspective. Not a bad article.
not that this is on or off topic, but i was once arrested in roland, ok (not using a signal escalated into a 'zero tolerance' law violation) ... dirty little town of 1500 or so people, 13 fully-loaded police cars, and using a double-wide as their community jail/court/police station. seems like ONE of those over zealous police officers would know this guy ... or IS this guy, for that matter ...
you can't have everything, where would you put it?
Okay, after a double-check I think I stuffed it up. Second try - I think Cheyenne Gentlemen's Club is the strip club, LP Bottle Express is the gas/convenience store (which didn't show up when I searched for "gas station", but did for just "gas" - and the name sounds like a convenience store), and Blue Ribbon Chevrolet is the used-car place.
If so, he'd be located about here . Just about halfway between the strip club and gas station on one side, and the used-car place on the other.
I think this fits much better than my previous attempt - which was way closer to Muldrow than Roland, and too close to a "Main" street that'd have lots of other businesses.