Author of peer-to-peer computer virus captured

UPDATED 8:50 P.M.: Milmont said in an e-mail exchange tonight that he has suffered from a brain tumor from an early age that was discovered when he was 16, around when he began work on the virus.

"It is obvious to me and my family that this greatly affected my mental, physical and emotional state," Milmont wrote. "Most of the illegal activity took place before I was 18, and I wouldn't do it today."

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Federal authorities say they have captured the author of an innovative computer virus that infected as many as 15,000 PCs last year.

Jason Michael Milmont, 19, agreed to plead guilty (you can download a PDF of the plea agreement here) in his hometown of Cheyenne, Wyo., to a federal felony charge of unauthorized access to a computer to further a fraud, according to court documents. He reached the deal with prosecutors in Los Angeles and could face as many as five years in prison.

It's unusual for anyone controlling large blocks of so-called zombie computers to be arrested, and even more unusual for a virus author to get caught. Milmont's case is especially interesting because he is credited with being among the first to use peer-to-peer communication among infected computers. That trick makes it much harder for authorities or security experts to stop a virus, since there is no one visible machine or group of machines directing the others.

According to papers filed in the case, Milmont modified the Limewire file-trading program and offered it to others as a free download. Hidden inside was what became known as the Nugache Worm, which spread further through instant messages that invited recipients to view infectious photos on faked MySpace or Photobucket pages.

Apparently working alone, Milmont looked into the computers under his control and extracted credit-card and other personal information, which he used to make purchases. He was tripped up after using the machines to launch a denial-of-service attack against an L.A. area business, which was not named in court papers, overwhelming that website with requests for information.

-- Joseph Menn

Photo by Nils Geylen via Flickr 

Comments

[Howard in Irvine]

I don't know if Mr. Milmont was totally blaming a brain tumor for his misdeeds, but in general I'm tired of people playing the "victim" card as a defense for bad behavior.

[Pippa]

I really don't care that he has a brain tumor - I'm just happy that this pathetic little virus creator will be put in jail, and likely abused by other prisoners. Have fun in there, old boy!

[johnson]

cool