Spyware Blockers

John Schiefer was sentenced this week to four years in a federal penitentiary for hacking, fraud and wiretapping. Schiefer was convicted of infecting as many as 250,000 computers with spyware that gave Schiefer access to private information. The FBI arrested Schiefer in 2007 as part of a wide-ranging undercover investigation it called Operation Bot Roast II. The investigation was aimed at hackers and other Internet criminals.

Mahalo, a startup search engine company, employed Schiefer. Mahalo executives denied knowing that Schiefer was involved in criminal activities, despite Schiefer’s previous convictions. Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis says that he hopes to rehire Schiefer once he is released from prison.

Schiefer reportedly developed his botnet when he was employed by 3G Communications of Los Angeles. The malicious software allowed Schiefer to see private financial transactions and empty victims’ PayPal and bank accounts.

Schiefer also collected funds from Internet marketing companies to install adware on unsuspecting victims, and used his network of compromised computers to launch denial-of-service attacks on Web sites. As part of his sentence, Schiefer must make restitution of nearly $20,000 to PayPal and other victims of his illegal activities. His sentence is relatively light; Schiefer had faced up to 60 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million dollars.

Spyware Doctor Can Help Prevent Infections

The hundreds of thousands of computers Schiefer used in his botnet weren’t protected with Spyware Doctor. If they had been, they wouldn’t have been infected with some of the most dangerous spyware around. They also wouldn’t have been infected with the adware that Schiefer deposited on many of the compromised computers.

Spyware Doctor is the number one choice of millions of computer users around the world. Spyware Doctor is highly effective at finding, disabling and removing dangerous and annoying spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers and other malicious software that can turn your computer into a zombie in someone else’s botnet army.

Spyware Doctor offers extensive protection against even the latest malware and spyware threats. It is recommended by some of the industry’s top publications, and offers free customer support.

Best of all, Spyware Doctor is easy to use. It loads easily, works fast, and is very thorough. Spyware Doctor offers real-time protection, which means that our software prevents spyware from being downloaded to your computer in the first place. Spyware Doctor finds the spyware that other products leave behind, offering you the best protection you can find against today’s malware threats.

Photo Credit: Christopher Boyd