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UK police make Zeus Trojan arrests

Tom Espiner ZDNet UK | November 19, 2009 1:22 PM PST

Summary

The UK Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit made two arrests earlier this month for suspected use of the Zeus Trojan.
The UK Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit made two arrests earlier this month for suspected use of the Zeus Trojan.

A man and a woman, both 20, were apprehended in Manchester on 3 November in Europe's first arrests with regard to Zeus, according to a Met Police statement on Wednesday.

A Met Police spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Thursday that a man and a woman had been arrested for suspected criminal distribution of the Trojan, which is also known as Zbot.

The two have not yet been formally charged, said the spokesperson, who added that they have been given police bail while the investigation continues.

For more, read "UK police make Zeus Trojan arrests " from ZDNet UK.

Talkback Most Recent of 10 Talkback(s)

  • You mean they actually CAUGHT SOMEONE?
    I'm absolutely shocked by this turn of events, I
    thought that they were never going to catch anyone
    connected with these trojans that are flitting
    around.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Lerianis10
    19th Nov 2009
  • RE: UK police make Zeus Trojan arrests
    You mean they actually took the time to track someone to
    blame.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    truckrdude1954
    19th Nov 2009
  • RE: UK police make Zeus Trojan arrests
    This is a good sign. Now we just have to find out if the punishment will be strong enough to deter everyone else from doing it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    mmeade@...
    20th Nov 2009
  • RE: UK police make Zeus Trojan arrests
    Microsoft, Apple, et al, should be giving significant rewards to the people who track down these cyber-polluters. A huge reward should await anyone who tracks down the originators of the viruses.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Non Compos Mentis
    20th Nov 2009
  • Best Idea I've heard in a long time
    If the industry put up a million dollar reward, there'd be an army of hackers doing their best to track down the scum.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jpdemers@...
    23rd Nov 2009
  • RE: UK police make Zeus Trojan arrests
    It's about time! Now get some bigger fish!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    spinnoutguy
    21st Nov 2009
  • Next they will offer them jobs with security companies
    They will also offer them a six figure income. While we continue to fight off their attacks and make 1/3 of that if we are lucky.

    The Internet has been trashed and people are avoiding it like the plague. It is like walking through a minefield!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobdavis321
    23rd Nov 2009
  • Not necessarily.
    A lifetime ago, I'm talking multiple decades, long before the internet,
    as a very young and stupid computer enthusiast badly in need of a
    lesson about actions having consequences, I wrote a non-destructive
    worm, which was widely reported on as a "virus". I was caught. While
    my case didn't attract global attention, it certainly did appear in
    regional and even some national media at the time.

    Let me assure you, no job offers came rolling in. All I got were a
    substantial fine and one federal felony charge which eventually didn't
    come to trial only for unrelated and coincidental reasons. That's plus
    the horrible eight-month ordeal of just dealing with the escalating
    consequences, which were probably still less harsh than I deserved. It
    was an awful experience, however much deserved, and ended up only
    with me feeling lucky just not to be in jail. And I did something orders
    of magnitude less severe than these people did.

    If my experience was anything to go by, they're likely never to get
    anything more positive out of having done this than months or years
    of intense stress followed by a very long-term feeling of severe
    regret, strong enough to keep them from ever causing any kind of
    trouble again.



    ZDNet Gravatar
    mikekayb
    23rd Nov 2009
  • @bobdavis321
    Haha. People that hack and get caught don't get job offers. No-one likes a hacker. In the USA there's a few old hackers that work for companies or freelance, but that's not the norm. I'm currently doing an I.T. Security course. You know how difficult it is to do research outside of uni? Where every program and script I use or make is illegal? Illegal meaning jail terms, fines, bans from computers, ASIO or the equivalent watching you for the rest of your life, etc, etc.

    You don't get a six figure income by hacking a computer. You get a harsher punishment than most murderers. =P
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Cyberjester
    29th Nov 2009
  • Zeus Trojan is really dangerous
    Zeus Trojan is certainly one of the deadliest Trojans to target the financial websites. It is learnt that Zeus Trojan has now acquired the capabilities to break into users? bank accounts in spite of two-factor authentication systems.
    http://thepcsecurity.com/zeus-trojan-online-password-stealing-tool-getting-more-potent/
    Be warned.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    desinet1@...
    30th Sep 2010

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