OPERATION BOT
ROAST INDICTMENT
US v. Robert Alan Soloway - PDF
OPERATION BOT
ROAST
|
For
Immediate Release |
Washington
D.C. |
Over 1 Million Potential
Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime
Today the Department of Justice and FBI
announced the results of an ongoing cyber crime initiative to disrupt and
dismantle “botherders” and elevate the public’s cyber
security awareness of botnets. OPERATION BOT ROAST is
a national initiative and ongoing investigations have identified over 1 million
victim computer IP addresses. The FBI is working with our industry partners,
including the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University, to notify
the victim owners of the computers. Through this process the FBI may uncover
additional incidents in which botnets have been used
to facilitate other criminal activity.
A botnet is a
collection of compromised computers under the remote command and control of a
criminal “botherder.” Most owners of the compromised
computers are unknowing and unwitting victims. They have unintentionally
allowed unauthorized access and use of their computers as a vehicle to
facilitate other crimes, such as identity theft, denial of service attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass distribution of spam
and spyware. Because of their widely distributed
capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to
national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy.
“The majority of victims are not even
aware that their computer has been compromised or their personal information
exploited,” said FBI Assistant Director for the Cyber Division James Finch. “An
attacker gains control by infecting the computer with a virus or other malicious
code and the computer continues to operate normally. Citizens can protect
themselves from botnets and the associated schemes by
practicing strong computer security habits to reduce the risk that your
computer will be compromised.”
The FBI also wants to thank our industry
partners, such as the Microsoft Corporation and the Botnet
Task Force, in referring criminal botnet activity to
law enforcement.
Cyber security tips include updating anti‑virus
software, installing a firewall, using strong passwords, practicing good email
and web security practices. Although this will not necessarily identify or
remove a botnet currently on the system, this can
help to prevent future botnet attacks. More
information on botnets and tips for cyber crime
prevention can be found online at www.fbi.gov.
The FBI will not contact you online and
request your personal information so be wary of fraud schemes that request this
type of information, especially via unsolicited emails. To report fraudulent
activity or financial scams, contact the nearest FBI office or police
department, and file a complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint
Center, www.ic3.gov.
To date, the following subjects have been
charged or arrested in this operation with computer fraud and abuse in
violation of Title 18 USC 1030, including:
James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is
alleged to have operated a botnet that infected
Chicago area hospitals. This botnet infected tens of thousands
of computers worldwide. (FBI Chicago);
Jason Michael Downey of Covington,
Kentucky, is charged with an Information with using botnets to send a high volume of traffic to intended
recipients to cause damage by impairing the availability of such systems. (FBI
Detroit); and
Robert Alan Soloway
of Seattle, Washington, is alleged to have used a large botnet
network and spammed tens of millions of unsolicited email messages to advertise
his website from which he offered services and products. (FBI Seattle)
The FBI will
continue to aggressively investigate individuals that conduct cyber criminal
acts.
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel07/botnet061307.htm
IC3
Botnet 2005