Cybercrime – Botnet Bust

Cybercrime – Botnet Bust
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The chosen cybercrime case is Botnet Bust. A Botnet, also known as a zombie army basically refers to a collection of interconnected computers whereby each one of them has been taken over, typically with the help of malware such as Trojan Horses. These computers are controlled remotely by an external source through network protocols (Caglayal et al., 2012). There is a difference between cybercrime and traditional crime. Traditional crime essentially breaches local, national or state laws. Conversely, cybercrime involves the use of technology and entails a broad range of criminal activities that also violate local, national and state laws. It is conducted via the computer including such crimes like identity theft, electronic money laundering, hacking, malware, harassment and software piracy. Secondly, unlike in traditional crimes, people who partake in cybercrimes have the capability of committing acts across international boundaries or state lines usually making it not possible to prosecute. It is noteworthy that an unlawful act conducted through the internet within one state or country, might be legal in another.
Hackers using Botnet often have malevolent purposes which include the following: (i) DDoS: they use it to launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against a particular target. The hackers extract money from owners of websites in exchange for gaining back control of the hacked sites. Usually, nonetheless, the systems of day-to-day users are the targets of Botnet attacks primarily for the simple thrill of the bot master or bot herder. (ii) Stealing: the cybercriminals steal private as well as personal information and then communicate it back to the hacker. The stolen information might include sensitive personal information such as bank credentials and credit card numbers. (iii) Sending: they send spyware, viruses and spam (Caglayal et al., 2012).
The crime entailed using Zeus Botnet to steal $47 million or €36 million in several European Union countries and $3 million in U.S bank accounts. In essence, the targeted sophisticated attack campaign allowed cybercriminals to steal the money from over 30,000 private as well as corporate banking customers. Law enforcement agencies and banks in the affected nations were notified. In Europe, the hackers configured the Botnet to target customers of 7 specific banks in Spain, 16 banks in Italy, 6 in Germany and 3 in Holland. The Botnet Bust was detected in the Euro Zone nations. Reports revealed that individual transfer amounts made by the Botnet ranged from €500 to €250,000 (Schwartz, 2012). The cybercriminals also used the Zeus Botnet to steal $3 million from several bank accounts in the United States. The botnet stole passwords and credit card and bank account numbers of victims. A total of 37 people were caught for their roles in the cyber attacks and were detected because of joint operation between Microsoft, international law enforcement agencies and the FBI. However, the actual mastermind of Zeus Botnet is still at large. The suspects were charge in 21 separate cases for their role in the cybercrime and sentenced to serve 10 years in jail. Nevertheless, other suspects are still being sought (Schwartz, 2012).
Botnet has several effects on society. A successful Botnet attack could have broad implications including monetary loss, or even loss of consumer trust and confidence. ...