FBI Cracks Down on BotNets

Within certain IT circles, the malicious BotNets, computers running an application via unauthorized remote control, are a hot topic for both academic research (PPT analysis of Storm) and industry security experts. The decentralized nature of the software, adaptive-polymorphic behavior and clever use of rootkit techniques has largely prevented authorities from pegging down "BotNet Herders" - until now.

In 2005, the FBI launched a mildly successful campaign known as Operation Bot Roast that was able to identify compromised hosts and root out several intruders. Recently, those efforts paid off in the capture of a New Zealand teenager allegedly responsible for controlling more than a million hosts in his BotNet. The operation has spawned a sequel, Bot Roast II, which has already led to more than thirteen search warrants in both the United States and internationally.