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Suspected virus writer arrested in Spain, Sophos comments

Nov 26, 2003 1:43AM PST

Spanish police have announced that they have arrested a suspected virus author, the first believed to have ever been apprehended in Spain.

According to the Civil Guard investigation the 22-year-old man arrested in Madrid is believed to be responsible for the W32/Raleka worm which, according to a police spokesman, infected more than 120,000 users in 14 days earlier this year.

The authorities followed leads which lead them to investigate a Spanish hacking and phone phreaking gang. This line of inquiry directed the authorities to investigate a number of properties and individuals. Three houses were searched, eight computers confiscated and a 23-year-old man nicknamed "900K" has been arrested. "900K" is believed to be the leader of the hacking gang, whose other members go by names such as "DOING", "SANITY", "DEBYSS" and "DARKEAGLE".

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/spanisharrest.html

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