Facebook helps FBI bust cybercriminal ring ‘that infected 11m computers with viruses and stole £525million’
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | December 12, 2012 22:40
Facebook has helped the FBI to bust an international hacking ring that stole more than £525million from unsuspecting computer users.
The gang are said to have infected 11million computers with spyware that stole credit card numbers and bank details to net one of the largest cybercrime hauls in history.
Ten suspects have been arrested by FBI agents in connection with the hacking.
The social networking site’s security team helped the agents snare the gang after ‘Yahos’ targeted its users between 2010 and October 2012, the agency said in a statement.
They were able to help identify the criminals and spot affected accounts.
According to the agency, which worked also with the U.S. Department of Justice, the accused hackers employed the ‘Butterfly Botnet’.
Botnets are networks of infected computers that can be used in a variety of cyberattacks on personal computers and legitimate online networks and websites.
The FBI said it arrested 10 suspects from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, New Zealand, Peru, the UK, and the U.S.
It estimated the total losses from their activities at more than $850m (£525m), without elaborating.
The FBI’s release recommended users to update their operating systems and applications regularly, use anti-virus software and disconnect computers from the Internet when not in use to ward off future cyber attacks.
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