Zotob Authors Sentenced
13 Sep, 2006, 7:31 pm IST | by
Sharon Khare
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A Moroccon court has sentenced two men, Farid Essebar and Achraf Bahloul, to jail for their part in writing and unleashing the Zotob worm that disrupted computers at CNN, ABC, The Financial Times and The New York Times. Farid Essebar, a 19-year-old science student is sentenced to two years in jail and 22-year-old Achraf Bahloul for one year. The Zotob worm exploited the critical MS05-039 security vulnerability in Microsoft's software in August 2005. SophosLabs researchers believe that Essebar, a Russian-born resident of Morocco, used the handle "Diabl0", a phrase embedded inside the W32/Zotob-A worm. It is not unusual for malware authors to leave their handles inside their malicious code, sometimes alongside other messages. Sophos researchers have linked "Diabl0" to over 20 other pieces of malware. Moroccon authorities believe that Essebar and Bahloul worked closely with an accomplice in Turkey, called Atilla Ekici by the FBI. Essebar and Ekici were arrested in Morocco and Turkey 12 days after the initial attack. "The Zotob gang took over innocent company's computers with the intention of making money. By blasting their way into PCs via a Microsoft vulnerability they ripped control of the computer away from its owner and into the hands of hackers," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Once the PCs were under their control they could steal information such as credit card details and passwords, as well as potentially use the computers for launching spam and distributed denial-of-service attacks." The two men are reportedly planning to lodge appeals. |
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