Case library · System Breach
Botnet Built From Home Devices
United States v. Jha (2017)
Charge: Conspiracy to violate the federal computer fraud law by operating a botnetCourt: U.S. District Court for the District of AlaskaState: AlaskaDocket: System Breach
The facts
Three young men wrote software that searched the internet for poorly secured everyday devices — routers, cameras and video recorders — and quietly took them over. At its peak the network they controlled ran to hundreds of thousands of machines. They pointed it at chosen targets, flooding them with traffic until those systems buckled. One of the three later published the program's source code openly, which let other criminals build their own versions of the same tool.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: United States v. Jha; United States v. White; United States v. Norman (D. Alaska 2017)
Read more at justice.gov. The source reveals the outcome.