The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101405   Message #2045837
Posted By: JohnInKansas
08-May-07 - 02:24 AM
Thread Name: BS: amazing email virus
Subject: RE: BS: amazing email virus
As already indicated, I don't keep lists of convictions for malware criminals, but any number of search terms or methods will show that there are efforts being made, with some success, at prosecuting the worst offenders.

Google: Hackers Arrested gets a sampling similar to what you'll get with most similar search terms.

One that appears early in this result perhaps resembles Donuel's criminal profile (the one he's interested in - not necessarily the one he displays).

Alleged MySpace hackers arrested gives a brief report on the arrest of two "kids" who tried to extort money from MySpace. They operated a website that promised to allow MySpace users to see who visited their pages. Their page was one of at least three similar ones that I've seen reports on. They promised that their program would let you identify anyone who visited your page, would tell you how many times they had visited your page, would tell you what site they last visited before visiting yours, and would give you their email address.

When MySpace blocked their site, they threatened to re-open with an "unbreakable program" and demanded a "ransom" from MySpace. The "MySpace employees" who met with them for the payoff were actually FBI, and they went to jail.

I'm guessing that this case resembles Donuel's case to the extent that it involves malware downloaded from a source you might click innocently, or could get without knowing you'd "clicked," and does unexpected and unwanted things to your computer. They were blocked for their malware/spyware actions; but were arrested for the attempted extortion.

ALL OF THE SITES for which I've seen reports, who offered this "spy service," have been reported as guilty of downloading other malware, including keystroke loggers and "bot" programs. It is possible in at least one case that the site owners were not intentionally including other malware, and that their site may have been hacked by others who surreptitiously bundled "a few extras" with the spyware they intended to provide.

Most convictions will be for "ancient crimes" since it's extremely time consuming, and often requires international cooperation to identify the criminals, but the effort keeps going.

John