‘Bot herder’ pleads guilty
p2p news / p2pnet: A 20-year-old Californian “bot herder” has admitted he sold access to networks of compromised PCs and made money from illicitly installed adware, says Security Focus.
"Jeanson James Ancheta of Downey, Calif. entered a plea of guilty to four of the original 17 charges in the case, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California," says the story.
"The four charges include two counts of conspiracy, damaging government computers used for national defense and accessing protected computers to commit fraud."
Ancheta used automated software to infect Windows systems and to create botnets, says Security Focus.
"Computers at the China Lake Naval Air Facility were among those compromised by the bot nets investigated in the case," the story states. "He also used the bot nets to garner affiliate revenue from adware …"
The four charges, "could result in a maximum of 25 years of prison time and fines of $1 million, if the judge in the case rules that the sentences should be served consecutively and levies the maximum fine," says Security Focus, adding that as part of a plea agreement, "Ancheta will forfeit more than $60,000 in proceeds, a 1993 BMW, and various computer equipment. In addition, the defendant has agreed to pay nearly $15,000 in restitution to the government, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement."
He’s to be sentenced on May 1.
