The
United States Federal Bureau of Investigations aided by social media
giant, the Facebook has busted an international criminal gang that was
involved in massive identity theft and infecting nearly 11 million
computers with botnet, a FBI news release said here on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice and the FBI, along with international law
enforcement partners, announced the arrests of 10 individuals from
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, New Zealand, Peru, the
United Kingdom, and the United States and the execution of numerous
search warrants and interviews.
The operation identified international cyber crime rings that are
linked to multiple variants of the Yahos malicious software, or malware,
which is linked to more than 11 million compromised computer systems
and over $850 million in losses via the Butterfly Botnet, which steals
computer users’ credit card, bank account, and other personal
identifiable information.
“Botnet” is short for robot network; botnets are made up of
compromised computer systems and can be utilized by cyber criminals to
execute distributed denial of service attacks, send spam e-mails, and
conduct underground organized criminal activity, to include malware
distribution.
Facebook’s security team provided assistance to law enforcement
throughout the investigation by helping to identify the root cause, the
perpetrators, and those affected by the malware. Yahos targeted Facebook
users from 2010 to October 2012, and security systems were able to
detect affected accounts and provide tools to remove these threats.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Cyber Division,
International Operations Division, and the following field offices:
Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, El
Paso, Honolulu, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Haven, New
Orleans, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Diego, San
Juan, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington Field; the Department of
Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section; the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii; the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Western District of Pennsylvania; and the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the District of Columbia.
The FBI received invaluable international cooperation, assistance,
and response from the following partner organizations: Bosnia and
Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior; Republic of
Croatia, Ministry of Interior General Police Directorate, National
Police Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime; New
Zealand Police; Peruvian National Police; and the United Kingdom’s
Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Recommendations
It is recommended that computer users update their applications and
operating system on a regular basis to reduce the risk of compromise and
perform regular anti-virus scanning of their computer system. It is
also helpful to disconnect personal computers from the Internet when the
machines are not in use. Computer users who believe they have been
victimized should file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime
Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov
