(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — According to a report posted today on PCWorld, the second of two men charged in 2006 distributed denial of service attacks on web hosting providers The Planet and T35 hosting agreed to plead guilty today, according to court filings cited in the report.
The accused, Thomas James Frederick Smith, will reportedly plead guilty before a federal judge in Dallas June 10. Smith, along with David Anthony Edwards, are accused of building a 22,000 node botnet and targeting the two hosting providers as a way of demonstrating its potential to a possible customer. They reportedly face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
Edwards pleaded guilty on April 29 and is scheduled to be sentenced August 19. Smith’s trial was to begin next week, before he decided to plead guilty.
According to prosecutors, the two men created a botnet they called “Nettick,” and attempted to sell it to cybercriminals, asking 15 cents per infected machine – that’s $3,300 for the whole botnet. In order to prove they actually controlled the system, they used it to attack The Planet and T35.
The indictment in the case says the customer later agreed to pay approximately $3,000 for the Nettick botnet.
According to PCWorld, Smith and Edwards later broke into T35 – which has, and had, a large base of free hosting subscribers – stole the company’s list of usernames and passwords and defaced its website. They reportedly released the usernames and passwords online.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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