Tech Shout!

A California man was charged on Friday on federal charges of creating a robot-like network of hijacked computers that helped him and two others earn $100,000 for installing unwanted ad software.

The accusation from a federal grand jury in Seattle also alleges Christopher Maxwell, 20, and two unidentified conspirators of affecting Seattle’s Northwest Hospital with a “botnet” attack in January 2005.

Authorities say the hospital attack caused $150,000 in damages, shut down the intensive care unit and disabled doctors’ pagers.

In a statement U.S. Attorney John McKay said, “Some people consider botnets a mere annoyance or inconvenience for consumers but they are highly destructive.” Mckay continued, “In this case, the impact of the botnet could have been deadly.”

The two-count indictment charges Maxwell with scheming to deliberately cause damage to a protected computer and commit computer fraud.

A “bot” like the one Maxwell is accused of operating is a program that surreptitiously installs itself on a computer so it can be controlled by a hacker. A botnet is a network of such robot, or “zombie,” computers, which can exploit their collective power to do considerable damage or send
out huge amounts of junk e-mail.

The creator of a botnet typically uses a computer or computers to search the Internet for vulnerable machines. After installing malicious code, a bot program connects to the network where it will receive commands from the operator of the network.

Authorities claim that Maxwell used a botnet to secretly install unwanted Internet adware, which makes advertising displays pop up on a user’s computer, and then earn commissions from a number of companies.

As part of his network, authorities said Maxwell hijacked high-powered server networks at California State University, Northridge, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Los Angeles.

If found guilty, Maxwell will face a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.