Zotob, Mytob Alleged Authors Arrested

The FBI has announced the arrests of two alleged authors of the Mytob and Zotob computer worms. Mytob is so named because it is a code blend of the Mydoom email worm and bot code used to form collections of zombied PCs referred to as botnets. Zotob replaced the Mydoom code with code exploting a recently patched Plug and Play vulnerability.

Microsoft, Moroccan authorities, the Ministry of Interior Turkish National Police, and the FBI cooperated in the investigation which led to the arrest of 18-year-old Farid Essebar and 21-year-old Atilla Ekici. Essebar, born in Russia, was arrested in Morroco where he is now a citizen. He uses the nickname "Diabl0", a reference found in some of the malicious code. Ekici, who used the nickname "Coder", is a citizen of Turkey and was arrested in that country.

In a statement released by the FBI, Cyber Division Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel III stated, "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." Reigel commended the transcontinental cooperation, noting, "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."