Slovenia (ip-192.com): After a two year investigation, police arrested three hackers linked to the Mariposa botnet in Slovenia. The botnet was used to steel passwords, credit card and bank account information. Mariposa was built around a computer virus known as "Butterfly bot" and was use to launch denial of service attacks. Industry experts estimate that the Mariposa botnet infected between 8 and 12 million computers worldwide.
"In the last two years, the software used to create the Mariposa botnet was sold to hundreds of other criminals, making it one of the most notorious in the world," said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller in a press release. "These cyber intrusions, thefts, and frauds undermine the integrity of the Internet and the businesses that rely on it; they also threaten the privacy and pocketbooks of all who use the Internet."
The Spanish Guardia Civil arrested three suspected Mariposa Botnet operators in February (ip-192.com reported here and here). The suspected creator of the botnet was now arrested by the Slovenian police. "We are glad to cooperate with the United States; the FBI's assistance is invaluable and represents professional affirmation of our force," said the Slovenian Minister of the Interior Katarina Kresal and Slovenian Criminal Police director General Janko Gorsek in a joint statement. "This case shows that cyber crime issues call for international police cooperation that shouldn’t be hindered by geographical borders. The FBI has demonstrated a high level of collaboration in which our countries were equal partners, which was crucial for the success of the investigation and reducing the threat on a global level. This partnership serves as a solid basis for future cooperation."
Over the past two to three years, the creator of the Butterfly botnet did sell the virus to cybercriminals worldwide, allowing them to infect thousands of computers and create the Mariposa botnet.
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