Texas botnet herder pleads guilty

A Texas man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Dallas to charges of developing a botnet of 22,000 PCs with the intention of renting it out to other cybercriminals, a court official told SCMagazineUS.com. To attract prospective buyers, David Edwards used the botnet to attack The Planet, a Dallas-based internet service provider, and then broke into servers operated by hosting provider T35 Hosting. Edwards allegedly carried out the scheme with a Texas co-conspirator, Thomas Smith, who pleaded innocent and is scheduled to be tried May 17. Both men were charged with conspiracy and face a maximum of five years in prison. — AM

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