The BBC has deliberately hacked into 22,000 PCs to prove the power of botnets, and the damage that can be done with a network of compromised computers.
Click – BBC News' technology programme – with the help of anti-virus company Prevx, took over thousands of computers in order to demonstrate a growing problem in the modern world.
Botnets are networks of computers that have been compromised by cyber-criminals and can be used to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on servers or, most commonly, to send out the deluge of spam that lands in the world's inboxes daily.
Low-value
"Click managed to acquire its own low-value botnet - the name given to a network of hijacked computers - after visiting chatrooms on the internet," said the BBC.
"The programme did not access any personal information on the infected PCs.
"If this exercise had been done with criminal intent it would be breaking the law."
Easily done
Prevx demonstrated the ease in which people can 'rent' botnets for their own use earlier this year when TechRadar visited Director of Malware Research Jacques Erasmus.
Commenting on the BBC project, Erasmus said "Cybercriminals are getting into contact with websites and threatening them with DDoS attacks.
"The loss of trade is very substantial so a lot of these websites just pay-up to avoid it."
The BBC points out that it 'destroyed' its botnet after finishing its project.
Your comments (11) Click to add a new comment
louis058
March 15th
11. oh yeah, and this law's messed up, it should be that if the hacking is done with criminal intent or criminal results then it is a crime, but with good intent AND no damage caused then it isn't a crime, which is exactly what happened with the BBC, they did it with good intent and, really, no damage was caused other than that loads of people had their wallpaper changed into a warning wallpaper (which could easily changed back), that's what my morals tell me anyway
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louis058
March 15th
10. who knows? maybe funnyday might even be right! but his theory just sounds like a conspiracy theory XD
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rudyvise
March 15th
9. These people are stupid white hats trying to be black hats. They are silver spoons that are given public monies to spend all day endeavouring to imitate the real thing. They do huge amounts of research, yet they have no real understanding of how hackers really think. They present as highly intelligent, highly sophisticated types when in actual fact they are laughed at by the black hat community.
This is Iraq all over again. If you don't have any real on the ground intelligence, then you are just dumb imitators who will do more harm than good.
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lovlid
March 13th
8. Yes the world is a corrupt place, but it isn't Hollywood. If the BBC was involved in "covert" corruption, would they tell us what they have just done? No would be the answer to that. Unless they are trying to throw us off the scent of what they are really doing, "world domination through the teletubbies".
Ironically, the one place you would think that You personally would be paranoid about, is the one You are using right now, The Internet,,,,its Evil,,Evil I tell you.....
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funnyday
March 13th
7. I never said that every employee of Roal Mail was involved. I also never said that every employee of the BBC is involved. I said that those organisations are used to provide covers. Who wouldn't be paranoid after what I have had happen. What this proves is that these organisations have people inside of them who gain access remotely to other peoples computers without permission. Who knows just what else they are doing that we don't hear about. In the UK there is covert corruption on a massive scale.
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lovlid
March 13th
6. Hey funnday, paranoid much? Did you know the post office sank the Titanic?
And the rest of you, they highlighted a growing problem, they didnt invade another country.
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