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back to article Québec cops bust massive botnet ring

Canadian police have arrested 17 people suspected of running a huge botnet of compromised PCs. Up to one million computers in various countries were allegedly under the control of the suspects, who range in ages from 17 to 26. All but one are male, UPI reports. Seven were arrested in dawn raids by the Sûreté du Québec and …

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  1. John

    Storm?

    As I read the headline, I thought to myself, I wonder if this is linked to the folks who are running the storm botnet? But the more I read the story it appears to just be another random group using bots to collect dough...and the number of infected PCs is not nearly high enough....

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  2. C. B. Legier
    Stop

    Lords of the Botnet Ring

    So this means that possibly each person controlled up to 143,000 computers? And where did they have all these "Zombies" logged into? What backdoor were they using? Even if we factor in the "figure of three" rule, this means that they had around 333,000 computers compromised and had C$17Mil is profits. This seems a bit overstated and blown out of proportion. I highly doubt any of these figures are true.

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  3. T. Scheisskopf
    Happy

    I don't know if this has any bearing, but

    My spam, which was getting completely out of hand at 300 messages a day and rising and only made bearable by Spamato, has dropped to about 50 a day in the last 24 hours.

    Make of that what you will.

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  4. C. B. Legier

    @ T. Scheisskopf

    Maybe it is time to drop that e-mail. You should have AT LEAST two emails. One for everyday usage on sign-ups, forums etc.. This would preferably be a gmail, hotmail etc. account. The second is one you only give to family or friends. I personally have three. I added one only for bills etc. And the moment I think ANY are compromised, they are drawn and quartered. Also, I don't just randomly click on sites/links whenever.

    Teaching the public is the only way this spam/malware/spyware will go away. AV, Firewalls and others of the sort are only band aids for the dumb.

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  5. Barry Rueger
    Happy

    At Last!

    A Canadian technology story that isn't about that damned robotic arm on the Shuttle! Millions of Canadians say "Thank you!"

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  6. Matt

    Why thank you for that advice

    >Maybe it is time to drop that e-mail. You should have AT LEAST two emails.

    I have more domains than that. And public email addresses for web businesses, etc. Having "spam" email addresses don't work for everyone or every company.

    But we do thank you for giving elementary advice on a geek specific news site.

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  7. multipharious

    theoretical protection in multiple addresses

    My private domain email address got comprimised when an address book got grabbed from someone that had less than satisfactory security practices. Just out of curiousity I maintain it with anti-SPAM assistance to see just how bad it will get. I too noticed a dip today.

    Perhaps this is like how all the chickens get quiet after the farmer decides it is time to have one of the roosters for dinner.

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  8. Steve Roper
    Stop

    10 years? Bollocks.

    Think about what these filth are responsible for. Think about what the Internet represents. The Internet is the first time humanity has been able to collaborate and work together on a truly global scale. It is the first true human Gestalt, with no big boss, no self-interested controlling body, the first free human communication medium, the most profoundly world-changing invention since the discovery of the wriiten word.

    These are the scum who are ruining the lives of millions of people for their own selfish gain.

    These are the scum whose deception and treachery dupes millions into unwitting participation in their vile crimes against humanity.

    These are the scum who are destroying the greatest social revolution in the history of civilisation.

    THESE ARE THE SCUM WHO SHOULD BE SWINGING FROM A GIBBET IN A PUBLIC SQUARE IN FRONT OF A CHEERING CROWD OF THOUSANDS.

    Ch-klick...HOCK! OOORAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!

    10 bleeding years? Bollocks. String 'em up. Hang 'em high.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Up to 10 years?

    As a Canadian I can assure you that 'up to 10 years' is a hollow threat. Be lucky to see them get anything over a year* - with automatic time off for 'good behaviour', time awaiting trial (if they are held in jail) etc. further reducing the time they'll actually serve.

    Multiple charges? In this country they'll be served concurrently.

    10 years. Don't make me laugh.

    *Might see 2 years if the judge decides to 'send a message' but I'd still expect to see them on the outside in less than a year.

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  10. Keith Williams
    Thumb Down

    @Up to 10 years?

    Be lucky to see them in in 2 years, never mind out.

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  11. Donald Freeman
    Thumb Up

    Do hackers stay hackers after exposure?

    I would think anonymity is kind of necessary....

    Anyway. I've been playing a small online game, CIP's "Tibia," which has been under DDOS attack for about a year. They have 100,000 paid users. The attack has caused, I'm sure, some pretty significant losses to CIP as the game has been near unplayable by premium account members who have been quitting in droves.

    During the last two days. I have experienced no outages, kicks, lags, or any other negative behavior while playing. The reason I found this article is because it is being mentioned on the game's website.

    If its not them, it is somebody who is laying low due to the fallout. I'm hoping its these yahoos.

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