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RSS FeedUS man faces 60 years for botnet crime
A 26-year-old in the US has pleaded guilty to infecting hundreds of thousands of PCs with spyware in order to commit identity theft.
Los Angeles-based John Schiefer admitted creating a botnet by infecting a large number of computers and using them to attack other computers and steal personal and sensitive information.
Botnets are commonly used for further spreading malware such as viruses, Trojans and spyware to further PCs.
The man, who now faces a maximum 60-year sentence and a fine of $1.75 million (£870,000), used the name AcidStorm as an online alias.
Prosecutors asserted: "Once in control of the 'zombie' computers, Schiefer used his botnets to search for vulnerabilities in other computers, intercept electronic communications and engage in identity theft," the Agence France-Presse reports.
Earlier this year, a teenager in New Zealand pleaded guilty of infecting 1.3 million computers with malware and causing millions of dollars worth of economic damage.
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