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Young Russian Responsible for Running Mega-D Bot-Network: FBI

U.S' FBI has named Oleg Nikolaenko a 23-year-old Russian citizen as the person behind the Mega-D botnet that once dispatched 33% of the total online spam.

Probing into the case, an FBI official has charged Nikolaenko with breaching the US laws against spam and fraud.

According to details in connection with the case, the FBI apparently found the identity of Nikolaenko and that he had alleged links with Mega-D when the bureau probed into the prominent Herbal King Spam ring.

During October 2009, American agency the Federal Trade Commission that deals with identity theft, acquired the court's permission for closing the spam activity as well as confiscating the assets belonging to many US-located firms thought to be initiators of the greatest junk e-mail activity, globally.

That spam activity, named Herbal King, was executed under the control of Lance Thomas Atkinson a man from New Zealand along with Jody Smith a citizen of USA. It related with the canvassing and sale of fake herbal items.

Further, based on the evidence that FBI acquired, Nikolaenko was a very big affiliate of the Herbal King ring and he dispatched spam representing it via the gigantic Mega-D botnet.

Officials also linked Nikolaenko with one ePassporte account, which could be utilized for buying things safely over the Internet whilst remaining anonymous. The account revealed that he got payments from Atkinson during June-December 2007 that amounted to nearly $460,000.

Till November 2009, when FireEye one security company effectively crippled Mega-D seriously, the botnet continued to operate successfully under the control of its bot accumulators.

Now, in Russia, its constitution doesn't allow its citizens to be extradited. Nikolaenko, who earlier went to USA voluntarily two times in 2009, possibly won't get back once he gets the hint of the Feds investigating his case, security specialists as also authorities speculate.

Eventually, concerned parties are viewing this bust as one huge transformation within the Russian scenario that they till lately regarded as a more-or-less secured place from where cyber-crooks could operate and whom the authorities left alone except when non-Russians were attacked or corrupt police and local politicians were apparently paid bribes.

Related article: Young Liberals’ Worker Found Guilty of Hacking

» SPAMfighter News - 12/14/2010

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