Posted by Virus Bulletin on Jun 16, 2011
Man who threatened World Cup bookmakers with DDoS attack convicted.
A German man who hired a botnet and used it to threaten bookmakers with DDoS attacks during the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been convicted of six counts of computer sabotage by a court in Düsseldorf.
The man hired a Russian botnet for US$65 a day and threatened six bookmakers with DDoS attacks on their sites unless they paid him a ransom of 2,500 euros. Three of the sites ended up paying a combined total of 5,000 euros, while the other three sites all refused to pay the ransom (even after the amount was lowered to a 'friendship price' of 1,000 euros).
The defendant is now sentenced to 34 months in prison and has also been ordered to pay damages of up to 350,000 euros.
DDoS attacks have risen to prominence in recent months after having been used for various political purposes, most notably by the Anonymous group. The European Commission has recently proposed rules that would increase penalties for using botnets and other acts of cybercrime.
More at Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, here.
Posted on 16 June 2011 by Virus Bulletin
