Mastermind of Mega-D botnet sent ten billion spam e-mails each day

Oleg Nikolaenko was busted in Las Vegas in November as the alleged spammer responsible for the Mega-D botnet. Nikolaenko was arraigned Fri in Milwaukee and charged with crimes associated with generating a third of the spam circulating globally. The 23-year-old Russian is pleading not guilty.

32 percent of junk mail comes from Mega-D botnet

The FBI explained that thirty-two percent of spam within the planet comes from Mega-D botnet which sends out ten billion spam e-mails a day. Using the Mega-D spambot, Oleg Nikolaenko is suspected of controlling more than 500,000 contaminated computers. Viagra is one of the fake prescription drugs supposedly sold by Mega-D botnet along with fake Rolex Watches and bogus herbal male enhancement. After a three-year investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation caught up with Nikolaenko Nov. 4 in LV, where he was visiting from Russia to attend an auto show. The accused Mega-D botnet mastermind encounters a prison sentence of up to three years and a $250,000 fine.

Oleg Nikolaenko tracked

Oleg Nikolaenko got rich with the Mega-D spambot. During six months in 2007, the FBI shows him making almost half a million dollars. In 2009 Nikolaenko narrowly escaped arrest when an online security firm attacked the command and control system for the Mega-D botnet. The spam came quickly again as Nikolaenko went to Russia and fixed the problem. The Mega-D botnet mogul was caught by the FBI. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had help from Australian and New Zealand investigators, private security corporations and even the Federal Trade Commission.

Google involved in catching of Mega-D spammer

Nikolaenko was found after an arrest of a counterfeit Rolex dealer. Mega-D botnet was used by the dealer. The counterfeiter gave authorities info that sent them on a trail that eventually led to a cash transfer site with Nikolaenko's Gmail address. Google was legally bound to submit account details that detailed Nikolaenko’s spamming. A "rigorous defense" is being made by his lawyer.

Citations

CNN

news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/03/man-allegedly-responsible-for-a-third-of-your-spam-e-mail-to-be-arraigned/?npt=NP1

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704377004575651232273336218.html

Digital Trends

digitaltrends.com/computing/man-behind-a-third-of-the-worlds-spam-heading-to-court/?news=123