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.