Napalm Riot

A Federal grand jury as has charged a Brazilian with trying to damage and infect over 100,000 computers with a malicious botnet program that could have launched denial of service attacks, taken down networked systems or launched tons of spam.

According to the US Department of Justice, Leni de Abreu Neto, 35, of Taubate, Brazil, is charged with one count of conspiracy to cause damage to computers worldwide. If convicted, Neto faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and up to three years of supervised release. Neto also faces the greater of a $250,000 fine or the gross amount of any pecuniary gain or the gross amount of any pecuniary loss suffered by the victims.

More...

Recently a hacker who hooked up a botnet within Newell Rubbermaid's corporate network was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Robert Matthew Bentley, of Panama City, Florida, must also pay $65,000 restitution. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. According to an IDG News Service story, Bentley could have received a 10-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud for using the botnet to install advertising software on PCs located throughout Europe without permission.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed last November that the second phase of its Operation ‘Bot Roast' netted eight individuals that have been indicted, pled guilty, or been sentenced for crimes related to botnet activity. Additionally, 13 search warrants were served in the U.S. and by overseas law enforcement partners in connection with the operation, the FBI said. This ongoing effort has thus far uncovered more than $20 million in economic loss and more than one million victim computers.