The "TK" worm was released onto the internet early this year
and, according to the BBC, used chat channels to infect computers
with a malicious Trojan horse – a program that installs itself onto
a computer without the owner's knowledge, usually by deceiving the
owner about what he or she is getting when opening an e-mail
attachment or downloading a file from the internet.
Once installed, the Trojan horse can carry out malicious acts
such as destroying data, scanning other machines or even
downloading illegal material from the internet. In this instance
the self-replicating worm caused damage to computers estimated at
£5.5 million.
An international investigation ensued, involving members of the
UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) and the Computer and
Technology Crime Hi-Tech Response Team (CATCH), based in Southern
California.
The two suspects, Jordan Bradley, 20, of Darlington, and Andrew
Harvey, 22, from Belmont, County Durham, were initially arrested in
February this year, under suspicion of being members of the
international hacking group known as "Thr34t-Krew" which is behind
the "TK" worm. A US man was arrested at the same time.
Bradley and Harvey have now been formally charged and are due to
appear before Consett magistrates on 18th September.
Formal charges have also been brought against a Romanian man
this week, in connection with the release of a version of the
Blaster worm that infected computers in late August. According to
Reuters, 24 year old Dan Dumitru Coibanu has been charged under a
new Romanian cybercrime law, and will face a sentence of between
three and fifteen years if convicted.
