The FBI is reportedly investigating a Russian man suspected of creating the nefarious “Mega-D” botnet, which infected more than 500,000 computers and sent an average of ten billion spam e-mails per day.
According to The Smoking Gun, Oleg Nikolaenko’s unwanted messages accounted for nearly a third of the annoying spam clogging the Internet.
Unsurprisingly, Nikolaenko is accused of violating a US anti-spam law and “abetting violations of the mail and wire fraud statutes.”
To be sure, Federal investigators believe “Mega-D” botnet was responsible for billions of trashy e-mails advertising fake Rolexes, counterfeit prescription medications, purported erectile dysfunction drugs and unlawful “herbal remedies.”
As such, FBI agents, armed with subpoenas and search warrants, have unceremoniously gained access to two Gmail accounts purportedly used by Nikolaenko.
Bureau agents are also monitoring Nikolaenko’s high-flying, jet-setting lifestyle, as he apparently visited the US in 2010.
It should be noted that Nikolaenko’s botnet was effectively crippled late last year by FireEye – a network security company that helped shut down the zombie bot’s command and control (C&C) computers.
