Alleged 'SpyEye' Botmaster Ends Up in America, Handcuffs

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/spyeye-zeus-botmaster-indicted/

By Kim Zetter
Threat Level
Wired.com
05.03.13

A 24-year-old Algerian man landed in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday to face 
federal charges that he hijacked customer accounts at more than 200 banks and 
financial institutions, capping a months-long extradition battle.

Hamza Bendelladj, who went by the name Bx1 online, is also accused of operating 
botnets of machines infected with the SpyEye banking trojan, and is suspected 
of operating Zeus botnets as well, although the charges against him in Georgia 
do not mention Zeus.

A civil complaint filed by Microsoft and the Financial Services – Information 
Sharing and Analysis Center last year names Bx1 among a long list of more than 
50 defendants allegedly operating separate ZeuS botnets that have infected more 
than 13 million machines and have been used to steal more than $100 million in 
the last five years.

The charges in Georgia are limited to Bendelladj’s alleged involvement in 
SpyEye, however, because one of the servers used to control a SpyEye botnet was 
based in Atlanta, Georgia. The indictment doesn’t indicate how much Bendelladj 
made from the scheme, but authorities claim he collected information on 
accounts at more than 200 banks and financial institutions.

[...]

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