Greek Software Developer Accused of Spamming

In Greece, authorities have placed a software developer from Sweden under arrest for sending junk email. The story gets more interesting from there.

Apparently his computer wasn't the one sending the spam email. Earlier he had performed service on a client's computer which actually went on the spamming rampage. The email itself pitched pharmaceutical websites. The suggestion is of course that he had installed some sort of malicious software, either launching a spam campaign, or allowing him or others to do so remotely at a later point in time. These systems are known as "zombies."

SpamButcher's anti-spam filtering system can block spam from all sources including zombie systems like the one mentioned in this article.

Hopefully there's more evidence than that. With the amount of malicious software roaming the internet, nearly any system could spontaneously start sending out junk email without prior warning. The vectors of infection are nearly countless. One can only imagine scenarios of an upset client becoming confused and blaming the last person who touched their system. Hopefully the police aren't that easily convinced, and there's more information than is publicly available at present.

With the number of opportunities to hijack other computers online, it would seem foolish for someone to hack a computer that could easily be tracked back to them. Something doesn't seem right with this case.

The developer in question actually has an established track record of taking a stand against unsolicited email. He is even a member of the CAUCE anti-spam organization.

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