[ISN] Feds pursue Russian, 23, behind one third of ALL WORLD SPAM

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2010 00:29:40 -0600 (CST)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/01/mega_d_botnet_suspect_named/

By John Leyden
The Register
1st December 2010

FBI investigators have named a 23-year-old Russian as a prime suspect 
behind the operation of the infamous 500,000 Mega-D botnet, blamed for 
an estimated one in three spam emails prior to a take-down operation 
early last year.

Oleg Nikolaenko, a 23-year-old Moscow resident, was accused of violating 
US anti-spam and fraud laws in a sworn testimony by an FBI agent 
investigation the case, the Smoking Gun reports.

Webmail records from two Gmail accounts and financial transactions (via 
the ePassporte service) link Nikolaenko to the operation of the botnet, 
according to court paper submitted in a grand jury investigation.

The Mega-D zombie network was infamous as a prolific source of 
counterfeit prescription, herbal remedy and fake Rolex spam. A January 
2009 takedown operation mounted by security firm FireEye hit Mega-D very 
hard, drastically affecting spam output, which has returned but never to 
the same noxious levels.

[...]


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Received on Wed Dec 01 2010 - 22:29:40 PST

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