[9Goarveboofe]

Tech and Science
Mar 3, 2010

'Zombie' network smashed



Civil Guard Jose Antonio Berocal, in charge of Cybercrime, is seen during a news conference in Madrid as authorities smashed one of the world's biggest networks of virus-infected computers, a data vacuum that stole credit cards and online banking credentials from as many as 12.7 million poisoned PCs. -- PHOTO: AP

MADRID - SPANISH police said on Wednesday they and the FBI had smashed the world's biggest network of virus-infected computers, which hijacked over 13 million PCs, and arrested three people who ran the operation. The group hijacked the computers from individuals and firms from almost every country in the world, allowing them to steal credit card data, usernames and passwords, banking credentials and other information, they said.

'This is the biggest network of zombie computers ever discovered,' the head of a Spanish police unit specialised in tech crimes, Mr Jose Antonio Berrocal, told a news conference in Madrid. The so-called Mariposa network was first detected in May 2009 by private Canadian information security firm Defence Intelligence which alerted the FBI. It was shut down in December 2009. The three suspects who were detained are all Spanish nationals between the ages of 25 and 31. Police found personal data from over 800,000 computer users on the PC belonging the the suspected ringleader of the operation which was taken from his home in Spain's northern Basque region. -- AFP