US Bot Herder Admits Infecting 250K Machines

AceCaseOR writes "In Los Angeles criminal court, security consultant John Schiefer, 26, has admitted infecting the systems of his clients with viruses to form a botnet containing a maximum of 250,000 systems. Schiefer used his zombies to steal users' PayPal usernames and passwords to make unauthorized purchases, as well as to install adware on their computers without their consent. Schiefer agreed to plead guilty to four felony charges of accessing protected computers to commit fraud, disclosing illegally intercepted electronic communications, wire fraud, and bank fraud. He will be sentenced Dec. 3 and faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of $1.75 million."

Comments

A better article, names companies involved, etc.

[trolltalk.com]

http://www.scamfraudalert.com/f142/john-kenneth-schiefer-botmaster-aka-acid-acidstorm-pleads-guilty-10692/

1. He was employed at a Los Angeles-based security firm known as 3G Communications,
2. The malware contained a sniffing feature that siphoned PayPal credentials from Protected Store, a section of Windows that stores passwords users have opted to have saved. Although Pstore, as the Windows feature is often called, encrypts the information before storing it, Schiefer's malware was able to read it, presumably by escalating its Windows privileges.
3. On one occasion, in December 2005, he moved money out of a Suffolk National Bank account to buy undisclosed domain names from a registrar by the name of Dynadot
4. Schiefer also used the botnet to collect more than $19,000 in commissions from a Dutch company called Simpel Internet for installing its adware on end users' machines without their permission.

Re:broken justice?

[RenderSeven]

I guess he can always appeal, right?

You cant appeal a guilty plea.

Re:Crime and Punishment

[despisethesun]

Extrapolating ludicrously, could a european citizen not subject to capital punishment be indicted by an america where their internet-based crime warrants the death penalty?

It's worth noting that most countries without the death penalty will not extradite you to a country with the death penalty if you're facing that punishment when you get there. They generally require assurances that you will face life without parole if convicted instead.