LA Botnet Hacker Reaches Guilty Plea Deal by Alice Turner 10:46, November 10th 2007 LA Botnet Hacker Reaches Guilty Plea Deal Los Angeles hacker John Schiefer agreed to plead guilty to fraud and illegal wiretap charges carrying a maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison and a 1.75 million dollar fine, the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles announced.
Schiefer, 26, admitted infecting 250,000 computers and stealing the identities of thousands of people by wiretapping their communications and accessing their bank accounts. He received help from an unspecified number of acolytes. It's unclear yet how many actual victims are and the total amount of money he stole. Schiefer worked by day as an information security consultant, and in this position he defrauded the Dutch Internet advertising company Simpel Internet, who signed him up as a consultant, of more than $19,000. Schiafer will make his first formal appearance before a judge on Nov. 28 and will be arraigned on December 3. He worked for Los Angeles-based 3G Communications, and also used his work computer to carry out the crimes. Schiefer, who on the Internet went by the handles "acidstorm," "acid" and "storm," was well known in hacker circles as a "botmaster," specializing in using armies of hijacked computers, known as a "botnet." "John Schiefer was an information security professional who betrayed the trust that both his employer and society placed in him," Assistant U.S. Atty. Krause said to Los Angeles Times. It's unclear how much jail time the hacker can get, but similar offenses were punished, under guilty pleas, with around five years in prison. Schiefer was not taken in custody. "What troubled me about this particular case is that it involved an individual entrusted with making sure that computers are safe - he was an information security specialist - but while at work, he was infecting people's computers, putting wiretap programs on them, catching people's user names and passwords, and forcing the infected computers to disgorge the most confidential banking information, and then encouraging juveniles to use this information to steal people's money," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark C. Krause. © 2007 - eFluxMedia On Nov 13, 5:55 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > ??? John Kenneth Schiefer, a hacker damaged 250000 computers causing > immense loss and anguish to the owners, but will get off the hook due > to membership in the jewish khazar ashkenazi tribe which blackmails > all top politicians and controls the banks and the media ??? > > Just consider that every hacked computer costs ATLEAST 1 week of work, > immense headache, often money to the victims. > > Is he smart? No because he was a security consultant. > > http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139507-c,cybercrime/article.htmlhttp://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=1540 > > Ex-security pro to plead guilty to running huge botnet > > Security consultant John Schiefer, 26, has agreed to plead guilty to > four counts of fraud and wiretap charges. U.S. federal prosecutors > claim he operated a 250,000 PC botnet by night, which he used to steal > information and money from users of PayPal. > > In the first botnet persecution of its kind in the United States, > Schiefer is facing the statutory maximum fine of $1.75 million and up > to 60 years in prison. > > According to ZDNet UK: > > The malicious software developed by Schiefer accessed the Windows > system feature "Protected Store," which encrypts and stores passwords > for online accounts. Investigators are yet to determine the full > amount of money stolen from victim's accounts. > > Schiefer also distributed software on behalf of a Dutch internet- > advertising company, Simpel Internet. He installed the software on > 150,000 computers, netting him $19,000 in commissions, but did so > without users' consent. > > He is expected to be arraigned on December 3. > > Additional reading: > > * Botnet herder pleads guilty to massive paypal scam (eWeek) > * Ex-security pro admits running huge botnet (PC World) > * Security pro admits hacking pcs for profit (Washington Post) > * Los Angeles hacker plead guilty to infecting 250,000 computers > to steal identities (International Herald Tribune) > > Now, 60 years in the slammer is a long time. While it doesn't excuse > the crime, the fact is that the botnet created by Schiefer is > considered relatively small compared to other botnets, such as the > notorious Storm worm with an estimated 20 million infected PCs. > > If he gets 60 years, does this mean that the mastermind of the Storm > worm deserves multiple life sentences? Also, do you think what > Schiefer did has tarnished the IT profession in any way? > > As an IT professional yourself, what is your opinion of this matter? > > --------------------------- > > Stay on top of the latest tech news > > Get this news story and many more by subscribing to our free IT News > Digest newsletter, delivered each weekday. Automatically sign up > today! > > Print/View all Posts Comments on this blog > Ex-security pro to plead guilty to running huge botnet [EMAIL PROTECTED] > | 11/13/07 > Security Pro Looses Mind, takes money NEWThe Admiral | 11/13/07 > are the victims going to get their money back? [EMAIL PROTECTED] > | 11/13/07 > He should be shot, hung and burned at the stake NEWLocrian_Lyric | > 11/13/07 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
