FBI busts a click-jacking ring

THE US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged seven men for their roles in a click-jacking fraud ring.

The men, six Estonians and one still-at-large Russian, were charged for their roles in the fraud scheme that infected over four million computers in more than 100 countries. Infected computers could be found at places like NASA, the FBI added.

The malware altered computer settings and hijacked internet searches so that web users would be redirected to the ring's chosen web sites and advertisements. Each time one of these was clicked the gang would get some cash from the publisher.

In addition, the malware also prevented the installation of anti-virus software, meaning that users, once infected, would remain that way and unprotected.

"These defendants gave new meaning to the term, 'false advertising.' As alleged, they were international cyber bandits who hijacked millions of computers at will and re-routed them to Internet websites and advertisements of their own choosing-collecting millions in undeserved commissions for all the hijacked computer clicks and Internet ads they fraudulently engineered," said Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara.

"The international cyber threat is perhaps the most significant challenge faced by law enforcement and national security agencies today, and this case is just perhaps the tip of the Internet iceberg."

The FBI estimates that the men made $14m from the scheme, which ran between 2007 and 2011. µ