Mariposa Botnet Creator And Operators Have Been Arrested, FBI Says

A botnet is a network of remote-controlled compromised computers. According to the FBI, the Mariposa Botnet was built with a computer virus known as “Butterfly Bot” and was used to steal passwords for websites and financial institutions. It stole computer users’ credit card and bank account information, launched denial of service attacks, and spread viruses. Industry experts estimated the Mariposa Botnet may have infected as many as eight million to 12 million computers. 

In February, the Spanish Guardia Civil arrested three suspected Mariposa Botnet operators: “Netkairo,” “Jonyloleante,” and “Ostiator,” aka Florencio Carro Ruiz, Jonathan Pazos Rivera, and Juan Jose Bellido Rios. These individuals are being prosecuted in Spain for computer crimes.

Now, the Slovenian Criminal Police have identified and arrested the Mariposa Botnet’s suspected creator, a 23 year old Slovenian citizen known as “Iserdo.”
 
According to the FBI: From 2008 to 2010, Iserdo created “Butterfly Bot” and sold it to other criminals worldwide. In turn, these criminals developed networks of infected computers—botnets—and the Mariposa variety from Spain was the most notorious and largest. In addition to selling the Butterfly Bot program, Iserdo developed customized versions for certain customers and created and sold plug-ins (add-ons) to augment the botnet’s features and functionality.