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11 arrested for creating Fireball malware that infected over 250 million computers

By Sun Wenyu (People's Daily Online)    16:39, July 25, 2017
11 arrested for creating Fireball malware that infected over 250 million computers

Police have arrested 11 suspects who allegedly created the Fireball malware that infected over 250 million computers worldwide.

Acting on a report from a concerned citizen, Beijing’s cybersecurity police unit set up an investigation team to pin down the culprits.

After a technical investigation, the cybersecurity unit was able to locate the malware’s creator at a Beijing-based IT company.

Police set up sting operation to arrest the suspects, two of which are graduates of elite universities, on June 15.

The Fireball malware changes the homepages of the browsers of infected computers.

It has also the ability to execute remote commands, including downloading further malicious software, but mostly controls victims’ browsers to redirect them to ads for profit.

The suspects had IT work experience, while the two university graduates had worked in big internet companies.

The group allegedly started the company in 2015 to develop malicious software.

The suspects, who earned nearly 80 million yuan ($11.85 million) in illicit profit last year, have been detained while further investigations are carried out.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)

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