Teen suspect in cyber crime ring
New Zealand police questioned a teenager suspected of being the kingpin of an international cyber crime network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from bank accounts, officials said today.
Police raided the home of the 18-year-old, whom they did not identify, in the North Island city of Hamilton, took him into custody and seized several computers, said Martin Kleintjes, head of the electronic crime police center. He later was released without charge, though police said he was still part of their investigation.
The case is part of an international crackdown on hackers who allegedly assume control of thousands of computers and amass them into centrally controlled clusters known as botnets. The hackers can then use the computers to steal credit card information, manipulate stock trades and crash industry computers, authorities say.
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