| sumphatpimp |
06-12-2008 11:04 AM |
Hacker gets 41 months (in ham slamming heaven) for running rogue botnet
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9097 278&intsrc=hm_list
June 12, 2008 (IDG News Service) A U.S. hacker who hooked up a botnet within Newell Rubbermaid Inc.'s corporate network was sentenced to 41 months in prison yesterday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Robert Matthew Bentley, of Panama City, Fla., must also pay $65,000 in restitution. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Bentley could have received a 10-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud for using the botnet to install advertising software on PCs located throughout Europe without permission.
Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid, which makes products such as Sharpie markers and plastic food-storage containers, reported that its European computer network had been hacked around December 2006. At least one other European-based company also complained.
Bentley's indictment was enabled by investigations conducted by several law enforcement agencies worldwide, including London's Metropolitan Police Computer Crime Unit, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, the Finland National Bureau of Investigation and other local U.S. agencies.
Others who helped Bentley are still under investigation, the department said. Bentley received a commission from a company called DollarRevenue for every installation of the advertising software.
Ad software can be difficult to remove and can trigger unwanted pop-ups. Many hackers have become astute at installing the software through surreptitious means, such as exploiting software vulnerabilities in a PC's operating system or Web browser.
In December 2007, DollarRevenue was fined $1.54 million in the Netherlands, one of the largest fines ever levied in Europe against a company over adware. That investigation found that hackers were paid 38 cents for each installation of DollarRevenue software on computers in Europe and 25 cents for PCs in the U.S.
:1orglaugh
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