U.S. charges Calif. man in computer botnet case

Reuters - A California man was indicted on federal charges of creating a robot-like network of hijacked computers that helped him and two others bring in $100,000 for installing unwanted ad software.
The indictment from a federal grand jury in Seattle on Friday also accuses Christopher Maxwell, 20, and two unidentified conspirators of crippling Seattle's Northwest Hospital with a "botnet" attack in January 2005.
Authorities say the hospital attack caused $150,000 in damages, shut down the intensive care unit and disabled doctors' pagers.
"Some people consider botnets a mere annoyance or inconvenience for consumers, but they are highly destructive," U.S. Attorney John McKay said in a statement. "In this case, the impact of the botnet could have been deadly."
The two-count indictment charges Maxwell with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and commit computer fraud.
A "bot" like the one Maxwell is accused of operating is a program that surreptitiously installs itself on a computer so it can be controlled by a hacker. A botnet is a network of such robot, or "zombie," computers that can harness their collective power to do considerable damage or send out huge amounts of junk e-mail.
The creator of a botnet typically uses a computer or computers to search the Internet for vulnerable machines. After installing malicious code, a bot program connects to the network where it will receive commands from the operator of the network.
Authorities charge that Maxwell used a botnet to secretly install unwanted adware that made advertising displays pop up on users' computers; in return for doing that, he allegedly earned commissions from a number of companies.
To create his botnet, authorities said, Maxwell hijacked high-powered server networks at California State University, Northridge, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Los Angeles.
If he is convicted, Maxwell will face a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Reprinted with permission from

This article is reprinted by permission from Reuters.com, Copyright (c) 2006 Reuters. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Reuters or its third-party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. For additional information on other Reuters Services, visit the Reuters public Web site.