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Confessed Botnet Master Is a Security Professional

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the he-should-know-better dept.

An anonymous reader writes "John Schiefer, the Los Angeles security consultant who in last 2007 admitted wielding a 250,000-node botnet to steal bank passwords, sometimes from work, says he's spent the past 15 months working as a professional in the security scene while awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors are pushing for a five-year sentence, noting the exceptional threat he represented to society."

4 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. BURN HIM! by erroneus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    He is one of those people who, in my opinion, qualifies for MUCH more harsh punishment. My opinions are on the far extreme though... not likely to happen, but it does call for a good old fashioned lynching.

    1. Re:BURN HIM! by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      He is one of those people who, in my opinion, qualifies for MUCH more harsh punishment.

      Well, the US prosecutor could just allege that he's capable of starting World War III if given an opportunity to whistle into a telephone to get him thrown into solitary confinement. It might even be more believable than the last time they used it successfully.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  2. Re:Substantial Threat to Society? by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What about the woman that gets raped on the street? Isn't she partly responsible for the rapists behavior?

    Come on people, quit blaming the victim; especially when the victim is an average person (as is evidence by the sheer size that many botnets reach).

  3. 70 years for MacKinnon? by gb7djk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So prosecutors are asking for 5 years for stealing 1000's of bank details by a professional security consultant. Yet for that dastardly foreigner (MacKinnon) and complete amateur that embarrassed the military and did not steal or actually damage anything other than the US Government's pride with his dial-up modem - he is in line for 70 years. Is it just me or is there something wrong here?