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Teen 'Botnet' Leader Arrested in New Zealand

by Tim Stevens on November 30, 2007 at 11:07 AM

NZ Teenager, Botnet Leader ArrestedIn the realm of cyber terrorism, the botnet is a terrible thing. It's a collection of computers hijacked through malicious software that can be used to stage massive attacks, like the ones that shut down networks across Estonia earlier this year. One of the ringleaders in a global 1.3-milliion-computer botnet has been arrested, and surprisingly, he's only 18.

The kid, whose name has not been released due to his age, is known only as "AKILL." He was arrested as part of the FBI's 'Operation Bot Roast', a global effort to discover and shut down cyber-terrorists. Threats from botnets already apprehended by the FBI are estimated to have resulted in the embezzlement of over $20-million. It's unclear whether AKILL himself made any significant amounts of money from his botnet, but it is known that he used it to barter for access to viruses and digital trojans, tools of the trade in the botnet world. These were given in exchange for using his botnet to attack computer networks. That sort of bartering led to a cyber-attack on the University of Pennsylvania in February 2006.

While this is a major step, AKILL is just one player in a sea of botnet criminals. He is said to be tied to a botnet gang known as the A-Team, who the FBI hopes will also be behind bars soon.

From BBC News and PC World

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Tags: A-Team, Botnet, Cyber-terrorism, security

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