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Botnet Business Model Comes to Life

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the watch-the-little-buggers-multiply dept.

consumerist writes "Researchers at the German Honeynet Project have discovered that a malicious hacker earned about $430 in a single day installing spyware on computers in the latest Windows worm attack. Within 24 hours, the IRC-controlled botnet hijacked more than 7,700 machines via the Windows Server Service vulnerability (MS06-040) and hosed the infected computers with the spyware from DollarRevenue. The botnet operator made between a penny and 30 cents for every piece of spyware installed. Add that to the spam rental and DDoS extortion money and we have a booming business."

4 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Money from DDOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Add that to the spam rental and DDoS extortion money and we have a booming business.

    Hey, ./ editors! Increase your profit! Get money from sysadmins for NOT posting links to their sites!
  2. Cut up any part of the snake! by Kesch · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't know who to be angry at. My list includes in order of hatred from greatest to least:

    1) The asshat hackers who spread the worm
    2) The companies that pay asshat hackers to shovel their crapware
    3) The stupid people who actually give money to crapware companies and keep them alive

    Honorable mention:

    4) People who can't stop their system from being zombified.

    --
    If this signature is witty enough, maybe somebody will like me.
  3. Did he get it? by Godji · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While those infections could theoretically amount to that much money, did anyone actually pay the guy?

  4. Re:Follow the Money by Shemmie · · Score: 5, Funny

    We need a +1 Kinky