Fergie's Tech Blog

FBI Reveals 16 More Suspects In Zotob Worm

Tony Kontzer writes in InternetWeek:

Turkish law-enforcement officials have informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation that they've identified 16 more suspects thought to have assisted in the creation of the Zotob bot worm that has plagued IT security staffs for two weeks.

Louis Reigel, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, delivered the update during a speech to more than 650 cybersleuths gathered in Monterey, Calif., to share the latest high-tech crime-fighting techniques and tools. The High-Tech Crime Investigation Association's annual conference has taken on added significance this year, thanks to the seemingly endless instances of network intrusion, identity theft, child pornography, and online fraud.

The FBI's collaboration with Turkish and Moroccan authorities and Microsoft on the Zotob case underscores the growing need to coordinate global crime-fighting resources to pursue tech-savvy criminals with ever-expanding reach. "Cell phones and the Internet have given criminals international opportunities," Reigel told attendees. "Like business, crime has gone global."

Reigel likened the task of the FBI since Sept. 11, 2001, to trying to replace an aircraft's wing during flight. The bureau has 4,000 active child-pornography cases, has identified 20,000 victims of a scam involving alleged funds being shipped from Iraq by Saddam Hussein's family and one-time associates, and is helping with the Zotob investigation, in addition to its mammoth ongoing counterterrorism efforts. Crimes are increasingly being perpetrated by global criminal networks, spurring the FBI to deploy 50 international attaches whose job is to strengthen ties between the bureau and law-enforcement agencies in some 200 countries.

posted by Fergie @ 8/29/2005 04:07:00 PM