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The Vanishing Click-Fraud Case

Posted by Hemos on from the where-have-we-gone dept.

PreacherTom writes "In March of 2004, a computer programmer arrived at Google's offices with one goal in mind: blackmail. He had invented a program called "Google Clique", which could generate millions of fake clicks to Google's ads. The price to avoid disaster: $150,000. At the time, it didn't end well for the programmer; Google had the police in the next room. However, a few days ago the U.S. Attorney quietly dropped the case. The reason: apparently Google was unwilling to cooperate with prosecutors. Why the odd behavior?"

2 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Coincidence? by spellraiser · · Score: 4, Funny

    <tinfoilhat>

    But on Nov. 22, the U.S. Attorney's Office quietly dismissed charges against Bradley.

    November 22 is the day they killed Kennedy! Coincidence? You be the judge ...

    </tinfoilhat>

    --
    I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  2. Re:Did Google hire the guy? by try_anything · · Score: 2, Funny

    Right. Black hat hackers really want boring, defensive corporate jobs; they just need a foot in the door. It's just like the time a teenager did donuts on my lawn, and I hired him as a chauffeur, because what he REALLY wanted was to wear a silly little hat and be at his employer's beck and call ten hours a day.

    There's no risk of them getting bored and using your company resources to attack other targets, because they love bourgeois success too much to risk it for a thrill.

    White hat hackers, on the other hand, are completely unemployable. They're whistleblowers waiting to happen.