Moroccan authorities, the Ministry of Interior Turkish National Police and Microsoft helped the FBI make the arrest of Farid Essebar, 18, a Moroccan national born in Russia who went by the screen moniker "Diabl0." Also arrested in Turkey was Atilla Ekici, aka "Coder," a 21-year old resident of Turkey. Both individuals will be subject to local prosecutions, the FBI said.
FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel III said, "In today's world of sophisticated technology, cyber criminals need very few tools to carry out their crimes. With a few strokes on a keyboard and a click of a mouse, malicious computer code can instantly spread across computer networks all over the world causing significant damage and dollar loss. In the FBI, we confront this problem by teaming our highly skilled cyber investigators with other domestic and international law enforcement agencies as well as private sector companies including Microsoft and various members of the anti-virus community. The swift resolution of this matter is the direct result of effective coordination and serves as a good example of what we can achieve when we work together."
"We congratulate the Turkish and Moroccan authorities and the FBI for finding and apprehending the alleged distributors of the Zotob and Rbot worms so quickly," Microsoft Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith said. "These arrests demonstrate the value of public-private collaboration -- the first-class investigative work by the authorities and 'round-the-clock technical and investigative support provided by our Internet Crime Investigations Team here at Microsoft."
Zotob is a worm that targets Windows 2000 and XP-based computers. The worm opens a back door and exploits the Microsoft Windows Plug and Play Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039).
Information concerning the worm and its removal can be obtained from Microsoft.
The investigation is continuing and the FBI will assist appropriate authorities with respect to the institution and prosecution of any charges.
