One of the largest illegitimate networks on the Internet has been dismantled. A recent trojan released into the wild identified as "Briz-A" is what led authorities to finding the network, as analysis of the trojan's behavior revealed the existence of the network in the first place to the public. A huge number of web sites dedicated to selling custom malware for use in exploiting companies and people were all taken down.
"We were surprised by the quantity of data that a single one of these Trojans was able to steal... We don't know how many were generated or sold before the system was dismantled, and so the number of companies whose data is now in jeopardy could be very high," said Luis Corrons, director of PandaLabs, Panda Software's malware research arm.
If only we heard more good news like this, but in all likelihood the idea of malicious coders-for-hire will only become more attractive as more people and more information about them is made available online.