Computer security expert, Matthew Anderson, is looking at a prison term, for spreading computer viruses.
The 33-year-old from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has admitted being a key member of a sophisticated international gang of hackers.
He abused his knowledge to target hundreds of businesses with spam containing hidden viruses.
His criminal activities were discovered by Scotland Yard, which led an investigation into the viruses.
The gang, known online as the m00p group, were discovered infecting computers using viruses attached to unsolicited commercial emails.
The Scotsman reports that Anderson composed and distributed millions of spam messages with virus attachments before distributing them.
The viruses ran in the background on an infected computer and allowed Anderson to access private and commercial data stored on them. He was also able to activate webcams, effectively spying on users in their homes and sometimes taking screengrabs.
The hacker also made copies of private documents such as wills, medical reports, CVs, password lists and private photographs.
Anderson, will be sentenced on 22 November.
Read more: http://www.thirdage.com/news/computer-security-expert-busted-spreading-viruses_10-22-2010#ixzz13999MGtv
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