Slovenian police yesterday confirmed that they have detained a computer hacker believed to be responsible for creating the virus that infected 12 million computers worldwide, invading major banks and corporations around the world.
Leon Keber, spokesman for the Slovenian police, said the hacker, whom he didn’t identify, was detained and questioned. Keber said the police and the FBI would speak about the case at a press conference in Slovenia tomorrow.
The FBI said on Tuesday that a 23-year-old Slovenian known as Iserdo was picked up in Maribor in northwestern Slovenia 10 days ago, after a lengthy investigation by Slovenian police along with FBI and Spanish authorities.
Iserdo’s arrest comes about five months after Spanish police broke up the massive cyber scam, arresting three of the alleged ringleaders who operated the so-called Mariposa botnet, stealing credit cards and online banking credentials.
The botnet — a network of infected computers — appeared in December 2008 and infected more than half of the Fortune 1,000 companies and at least 40 major banks.
Botnets are networks of infected PCs that have been hijacked from their owners, often without their knowledge, and put into the control of criminals.
Jeffrey Troy, the FBI’s deputy assistant director for the cyber division, said on Tuesday that Iserdo’s arrest was a major break in the investigation.
He said it would take the alleged cyber mastermind off the street and prevent him from updating the malicious software code or somehow regaining control of computers that are still infected.
Officials declined to release Iserdo’s real name and the exact charges filed against him, but said the arrest took place about 10 days ago and the man has been released on bond.
“To use an analogy here,” said Troy, “as opposed to arresting the guy who broke into your home, we’ve arrested the guy that gave him the crowbar, the map and the best houses in the neighborhood. And that is a huge break in the investigation of cyber crimes.”
Troy said more arrests are expected and are likely to extend beyond Spain and Slovenia and include additional operators who allegedly bought the malware from Iserdo. Authorities would not say how much Iserdo supposedly charged, but said hackers could buy the software package for a certain amount, or pay more to have it customized or get additional features. Internet reports suggest the fees ranged from as much as US$500 for basic packages to more than US$1,300 for more advanced versions.
The Mariposa botnet was easily one of the world’s biggest botnets. It spread to more than 190 countries, researchers said. It also appears to be far more sophisticated than the botnet that was used to hack into Google and other companies in the attack that led Google to threaten to pull out of China.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS