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Two Arrested For Zbot Trojan

An anonymous reader writes "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit have made Europe's first arrests in the battle against the ZeuS or Zbot Trojan which threatened to compromise thousands of computers. Officers arrested a man and woman, both aged 20 years, in Manchester for offenses under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act and the 2006 Fraud Act. Both suspects were interviewed by PCeU detectives and have been bailed for further in-depth inquiries to be completed. The arrests in connection with the malware represent some of the first in the world, and the first in Europe to combat the distribution and control of ZeuS."

12 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. 2 Down... by houstonbofh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    2 down, a billion to go. Sorry, I just can't get excited about 2 people caught.

    1. Re:2 Down... by socceroos · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I would be excited to know how they got caught. There might be an enjoyable story there.

      I would have imagined that if these two were smart then they would have completely covered/obfuscated their tracks every step of the way. From propagating the first copy of the trojan to making sure any profits/information was sent through an elaborate network of communication-encrypted proxies before arriving on a remote server from which they could connect to using a similar but different network of communication-encrypted proxies and download/view the information.

      I'd really love to know if they were just stupid, or if someone else was just way smarter. For the stories sake, I hope its the latter.

  2. Re:Not mentioned in the article... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The internet, it's this shared thing right? So as long as you don't care about using it then yeah it's not your problem.

  3. Re:Not mentioned in the article... by Datamonstar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes. The theft of tons of personal information worth a ton of money is something that only affects Windows users.

    --
    The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
  4. Windows only / not windows only by baomike · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I try to be sympathetic to windows users, and even try to help on occasion
    but I am slowly losing any semblance of a positive attitude.
    The "who cares about windows users" keeps getting stronger.
    I can't protect everybody from themselves.

    1. Re:Windows only / not windows only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Actually, not all Windows users are total mouth breathing idiots. How many people here are Windows admins FFS? I've been using it since 3.1 and have never had a virus etc. own one of my machines. Linux in all it's incarnations is fun to use, but it doesn't cover everything I need a computer for...yet.
      Who the fuck modded this +4 Insightful? Somebody with an account copy and paste this for this dweeb! This is why I don't bother to get an account!

       

    2. Re:Windows only / not windows only by socceroos · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree, I do get a similar feeling. And although default settings are better on an OS like Linux, I can't help but think that those same users would manage to get infected on Linux too - if everyone started to switch.

      The only thing I know for certain is that I have more control over a Linux machine and as such have found them easier to diagnose and fix. Oh, and tonnes easier to reliably lock down.

  5. Oh please by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Idiots are everywhere. You think people won't write malware or trojans if macos or linux suddenly jumped to a majority market share? People write the shit for windows because its what everyone uses. Why would I bother with 1.2% of the linux users when theres 92% of windows users available? Nothing is idiot proof, not even linux.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Oh please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Nothing is idiot proof, not even linux.

      yeah but at least on Linux you get a better class of idiot.

    2. Re:Oh please by Provocateur · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Better class OS will have better class Trojans written for it

      And with this kind of competition, quality improves, and everyone benefits! Win-win!

      Oh, wait...

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    3. Re:Oh please by Tellarin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "You try to create an idiot proof system, mother nature just creates a 'better' idiot." :)

  6. Re:"National policing" by minasoko · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So, you're saying in a city with a population density of over 12,000 per square mile there are more reported instances of police mistakes, complaints and allegations of corruption than you find in a largely rural county with a density of 567 per square mile? Shocking.