Filed under: Internet, Security, News
FBI finds 1 million bot-infected computers
The FBI is announcing a crackdown on "botherders," or the unscrupulous folks who send out viruses and trojans to hijack your computer and use it for their own nefarious purposes. Sorry, had to make it sound like something out of an old Western there to fit wit the term "botherder."Anyway, the FBI says it's identified over a million potentially infected IP addresses as part of an ongoing investigtion.
The feds also used their press release to highlight several recent arrests of people accused of operating botnets for their own financial gain, including spam-king Robert Soloway, Jason Michael Downey of Kentucy, and James C. Brewer of Texas who allegedly infected Chicago area hospitals. Come on, hospitals?
The FBI basically recommends you regularly update your anti-virus software and use a firewall to avoid having your computer taken over. And they say they'll be contacting owners of the infected computers they've identified -- but will not be asking for personal information over email, so don't give out your passwords to anyone who says they're from the FBI.
After spending the better part of an hour on 