Cyber Criminals Hack Into 4 Million Computers

Cyber Criminals Hack Into 4 Million Computers

The FBI has found that a cyber criminal group based in Eastern Europe and code-named "Rove" hacked into at least 4 million computers in over 100 countries over the past four years. The criminal enterprise netted the group at least $14 million in what officials are referring to as "illegitimate income." The group created wealth from their criminal endeavors by utilizing to infect computers and send users of those machines to their own websites, where they created revenue through advertising deals.

In addition to hitting a large number of computers of lay people around the world, computers of U.S. government agencies, including NASA, were also hit. Among the websites from which people with infected computers were re-routed elsewhere were the sites of Netflix, iTunes and the IRS, among others. The accused group consists of six Estonian nationals and one Russian national. The FBI put an end to their endeavors after a 2-year investigation that was dubbed "Operation Ghost Click."

Said Janice Fedarcyk, the FBI Assistant Director in charge of the New York field office, "The global reach of these cyber thieves demonstrates that the criminal world is flat. The Internet is pervasive because it is such a useful tool, but it is a tool that can be exploited by those with bad intentions and a little know-how." Thus far, the six Estonians that are part of the plot have been arrested, while the lone Russian member of the group remains at large. "Today, with the flip of a switch, the FBI and our partners dismantled the Rove criminal enterprise," noted Fedarcyk. "Thanks to the collective effort across the U.S. and in Estonia, six leaders of the criminal enterprise have been arrested and numerous servers operated by the criminal organization have been disabled."