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Quebec: Police May have Busted Worlds Largest Computer Hacker Ring

by Barry Artiste | February 21, 2008 at 07:41 am

1035 views | 14 Recommendations | 4 comments

CBC Newsworld are now saying this may be the biggest computer hacking ring in history, it is said the alleged hackers may have controlled up to a million computers worldwide. More updates as this story develops.

Quebec police bust alleged computer hacker ringCanwest News ServicePublished: Wednesday, February 20
MONTREAL - Sixteen people were arrested including minors Wednesday morning following raids on an alleged computer hacker ring in about a dozen cities around the province, according to Quebec's provincial police.

Some of the suspects were to appear in court Wednesday while others were released with the promise to appear and another individual was being sought by investigators, said Frederic Gaudreau of the Surete du Quebec, the provincial police force.

The alleged pirates were able to control their victims' computers at a distance and used them to commit crimes such as stealing communications, personal ID and data theft, he explained. Thousands of computers were manipulated in the process, unbeknownst to their owners.
The suspects face charges for illegal use of computers, using computers to commit computer data fraud. They could face up to 10 years in jail for the offences. More charges could follow.

The RCMP assisted the Quebec police in the bust, Gaudreau said.

The operation was a reminder that companies and government institutions should be aware of risks to their computers systems, he added. Individuals should also keep their computer anti-virus and firewall protection up to date to avoid this sort of attack, he stressed.

With files from Canwest News Service

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Jordan Yerman

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:03 on February 21st, 2008

It's hard to tell how widely these botnets spread, since many users don't actually know if their machine has been zombified... they just think, "hmm, Mister PC is acting a bit odd... I'd better reboot...", not realizing that their once-pure computer is now thrall to the whims of some distant teen...

René

at 13:10 on February 21st, 2008

Anyway to check if your computer or your website is compromised?

Barry Artiste

at 18:13 on February 21st, 2008

If you're asking me Rene, "Big Friggin Mistake", I am about as techie with computers as they come, I turn it on, and it works, when it doesn't I ask my kid to fix it. When I am out of ideas I buy a new one. Of Course Jordan is Now Publics Computer God, so I bet he knows. What I do know is our techie guy at work set me up on Avast antivirus, which is free in the home version and Mozilla, have not had a virus in over a year, but then I wouldn't know if I had one if someone is just looking into my computer without my knowledge. But I bet Jordan would know. His rates are quite reasonable, as his agent, I get a 20% cut on referrals. It's okay Jordan, we'll talk,.,,