Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Citizen Pleads Guilty to Creating Spyware and ID Theft

Fiona Raisbeck writes on SC Magazine Online:

A US citizen, who was charged with creating and distributing a Trojan horse intended to steal computer usernames and passwords, has pleaded guilty in court.

Richard Honour admitted to distributing the spyware through emails he sent to users of DarkMyst, an IRC chatroom popular with players of online games.

He also released messages with embedded links claiming to connect to online film clips to other internet users. However, by clicking on the link it would download and install the spyware on to the recipient’s computers.

The 31-year-old then used the infected machines to steal online banking details and other personal information in order to commit identity theft.

posted by Fergie @ 2/23/2007 10:11:00 AM