Christopher Maxwell, a 20-year-old from California, has pleaded guilty to coordinating an online attack that compromised computers at several institutions and crippled the network of a Seattle hospital.
In 2004 Mr. Maxwell helped create an army of automated programs called "bots" that commandeered computers at the University of Michigan, the University of California at Los Angeles, and California State University at Northridge. The bots installed adware on thousands of computers — earning Mr. Maxwell and his partners about $100,000, but interrupting online communications at Seattle’s Northwest Hospital in the process. (CNET News)
