Skip to main content

MIRAI BOTNET CREATORS HELPING FBI FIGHT CYBERCRIME TO STAY OUT OF JAIL. Automated Publishing Via Osuta Yusuf Trigger. Three young hackers who were sentenced late last year for creating and spreading the notorious Mirai Botnet are now helping the FBI to investigate other "complex" cybercrime cases in return to avoid their lengthy prison terms. Paras Jha, 21 from New Jersey, Josiah White, 20 from Washington, and Dalton Norman, 21 from Louisiana, plead guilty in December 2017 to multiple charges for their role in creating and hijacking hundreds of thousands IoP devices to make them part of a notorious botnet network dubbed Mirai. Mirai malware scanned for insecure routers, cameras, DVRs, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices which were using their default passwords and then made them part of a Botnet Network. The trio developed the Mirai botnet to attack rival Minecraft video gaming hosts, but after realizing that their invention was powerful enough to launch Record-breaking DDoS attack against targets like OVH hosting website, they released the Source Code of Mirai. The release of source code eventually led to more cyber attacks conducted by various criminals against websites and Internet infrastructure, one of which was the popular DNS Provider Dyn which made much of the Internet unusable on the East Coast in October 2016. The Mirai botnet attacks were then investigated by the FBI in 2017, and the cybercriminals were sentenced by the Chief U.S. District Judge in Alaska in December 2017. Hackers Assisting FBI As Part Of Their Sentencing However, after U.S. prosecutors announced Tuesday that the men had provided "extensive" and "exceptional" assistance to a dozen or more different law enforcement, a federal judge in Alaska sentenced each of the three men to just five years of probation—no prison sentence. The trio has also been ordered to pay $127,000 in restitution, serve 2,500 hours of community service, and has voluntarily handed over significant amounts of cryptocurrency seized during the investigation into their activities. According to court documents filed last week, Jha, White, and Norman have been working with the FBI for more than a year and will continue to cooperate with the agency. In one instance, prosecutors called out the trio's assistance in the 2017 takedown of the Kelihos Botnet —a global network of more than 100,000 infected computers used to deliver spam, steal login passwords, and infect other computers with ransomware and various malware. In March, the three hackers also helped law enforcement stop the Memcached-basedDDoS attack, a tool that helped criminals launch over 51000 times powerful DDoS attack than its original strength against their targets. "Cybercrime is a worldwide epidemic that reaches many Alaskans. The perpetrators count on being technologically one step ahead of law enforcement officials," said U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder. "The plea agreement with the young offenders, in this case, was a unique opportunity for law enforcement officers, and will give FBI investigators the knowledge and tools they need to stay ahead of cybercriminals around the world." Schroder concluded that cybercriminals often develop their technical skills at a young age, and this case demonstrates the government's commitment to "hold criminals accountable while encouraging offenders to choose a different path to apply their skills."

Automated Publishing Via Osuta Yusuf Trigger.

Three young hackers who were sentenced late last year for creating and spreading the notorious Mirai Botnet are now helping the FBI to investigate other "complex" cybercrime cases in return to avoid their lengthy prison terms.

Paras Jha, 21 from New Jersey, Josiah White, 20 from Washington, and Dalton Norman, 21 from Louisiana, plead guilty in December 2017 to multiple charges for their role in creating and hijacking hundreds of thousands IoP devices to make them part of a notorious botnet network dubbed Mirai.

Mirai malware scanned for insecure routers, cameras, DVRs, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices which were using their default passwords and then made them part of a Botnet Network.

The trio developed the Mirai botnet to attack rival Minecraft video gaming hosts, but after realizing that their invention was powerful enough to launch Record-breaking DDoS attack against targets like OVH hosting website, they released the Source Code of Mirai.

The release of source code eventually led to more cyber attacks conducted by various criminals against websites and Internet infrastructure, one of which was the popular DNS Provider Dyn which made much of the Internet unusable on the East Coast in October 2016.

The Mirai botnet attacks were then investigated by the FBI in 2017, and the cybercriminals were sentenced by the Chief U.S. District Judge in Alaska in December 2017.

Hackers Assisting FBI As Part Of Their Sentencing

However, after U.S. prosecutors announced Tuesday that the men had provided "extensive" and "exceptional" assistance to a dozen or more different law enforcement, a federal judge in Alaska sentenced each of the three men to just five years of probation—no prison sentence.

The trio has also been ordered to pay $127,000 in restitution, serve 2,500 hours of community service, and has voluntarily handed over significant amounts of cryptocurrency seized during the investigation into their activities.

According to court documents filed last week, Jha, White, and Norman have been working with the FBI for more than a year and will continue to cooperate with the agency.

In one instance, prosecutors called out the trio's assistance in the 2017 takedown of the Kelihos Botnet —a global network of more than 100,000 infected computers used to deliver spam, steal login passwords, and infect other computers with ransomware and various malware.

In March, the three hackers also helped law enforcement stop the Memcached-basedDDoS attack, a tool that helped criminals launch over 51000 times powerful DDoS attack than its original strength against their targets.

"Cybercrime is a worldwide epidemic that reaches many Alaskans. The perpetrators count on being technologically one step ahead of law enforcement officials," said U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder.

"The plea agreement with the young offenders, in this case, was a unique opportunity for law enforcement officers, and will give FBI investigators the knowledge and tools they need to stay ahead of cybercriminals around the world."

Schroder concluded that cybercriminals often develop their technical skills at a young age, and this case demonstrates the government's commitment to "hold criminals accountable while encouraging offenders to choose a different path to apply their skills."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

We Bring You Brief Series of Sanctions Against Uganda Government Officials.

📸: Gen Abel Kandiho. On 9-December-2021, USA slapped sanctions against the then CMI Commander Gen Abel Kandiho. 📸: Gen Kale Kayihura. On 9-December-2022, UK slapped sanctions against former Police Boss Gen Kale Kayihura. 📸: Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija. Again on this 4-December-2023, the same USA has slapped sanctions against Uganda Prisons Commander Johnson Byabashaija over alleged torture and human rights abuses in Prisons across Uganda. We ask, has USA and UK made December as an LCM to slap sanctions against high ranking government officials in Uganda even when the sanctions just remain on paper without deeper investigations to ascertain logical conclusions or remedy to that effect ?. #iip_updates  #Information_is_Power  #we_inform_the_uninformed

How to Host a Website for Free From Your PC or Laptop.

Why pay for a web hosting service when your old computer can do the same thing? Learn how to self-host your site. If you're planning to launch a website but don't want to pay recurring monthly or annual hosting fees, you can use any old laptop or desktop PC to host a website for free. It's a great way to utilize your old system instead of throwing it away. In this guide, we will install and set up services on our 10-year-old laptop to host a WordPress, Joomla, or custom HTML or PHP-based website with a free SSL certificate. MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY Things You Will Need to Host a Website Following are the pre-requisites to host a website for free from home with just your computer: An old laptop or PC running Ubuntu Server. A registered domain name for your website Ethernet cable to connect the laptop or PC to router for reliable and fast connection Step 1: Update and Upgrade the Packages After  installing Ubuntu Server on your computer , execute the following c...

WHERE IS MINISTER OF SEX SIMON LOKODO?. (He deserves a battle of soda from me! Ministe`r esalanga mabee. He is quick to run after Mrs Dr Stella Nyanzi and other Opposition elements. Government aza aza edo zuu vaa kpere bua). Anyway, below is the article! POLICE OFFICER AKOL ESTHER CHARGED OF BEING A PUBLIC NUISANCE Naughty Officer Officer who embarrassed police after leaking nude photo charged 13.03.2018 She serves in the 'Very Important Persons Protection Unit'  Akol Esther  (Courtesy) A female police officer whose nude photo surfaced on social media has been charged of being a public nuisance. Akol Esther serves in the Very Important Persons Protection Unit (VIPPU) of the police force. Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigire says Akol Esther might be demoted or expelled from the police force if found guilty of circulating nude photos. Police court is yet to announce date when Akol Esther is expected to appear for a hearing. This comes at a time when Pornography Control Committee is taking tough measures against persons circulating pornography content. The committee warned and promised to arrest persons who will circulate pornographic content.

POLICE OFFICER AKOL ESTHER CHARGED OF BEING A PUBLIC NUISANCE Naughty Officer Officer who embarrassed police after leaking nude photo charged 13.03.2018 She serves in the 'Very Important Persons Protection Unit' Akol Esther  (Courtesy) A female police officer whose nude photo surfaced on social media has been charged of being a public nuisance. Akol Esther serves in the Very Important Persons Protection Unit (VIPPU) of the police force. Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigire says  Akol Esther might be demoted or expelled from the police force if found guilty of circulating nude photos . Police court is yet to announce date when Akol Esther is expected to appear for a hearing. This comes at a time when Pornography Control Committee is taking tough measures against persons circulating pornography content. The committee warned and promised to arrest persons who will circulate pornographic content.