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November 30, 2007, 07:23 AM ET
Penn Server Used in Internet Attacks
A University of Pennsylvania student has been indicted on charges that he crashed the campus server while attacking other Internet servers using “botnets.”
A botnet is a network of robot computers. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that Ryan Goldstein, a junior, was charged with using the university’s computer system to launch attacks, enlisting 50,000 computers against several online chat networks. He is alleged to have done this with the help of a New Zealand hacker known as AKILL.
The plot began unraveling after university computers crashed because of the attacks in February 2006. The botnet had loaded files containing virus software onto the computers. The police and the FBI began investigating.
One clue that led to Mr. Goldstein was the screen name Digerati, the newspaper reports. The name, which was found among the virus files, was also listed as the author of a poem posted on a well-known hacker site. The same poem appeared on Mr. Goldstein’s Facebook page, and the poet claimed to work at the university. In the indictment, federal officials say Mr. Goldstein used Digerati as his screen name on the Internet.
Mr. Goldstein has not admitted any guilt in the episode and remains a student at the university. A Penn spokesman told the newspaper that if the university takes disciplinary action against the student, it would be confidential.—Josh Fischman
Categories: Security, Legal-Troubles
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