Mytob, Zytob Suspects Apprehended

Microsoft on Friday commended the law-enforcement authorities in Turkey and Morocco as well as the FBI for its work on Thursday to arrest those believed responsible for the spread of the Mytob and Zytob worms.

The company's Crime Investigations Team supported the investigation by supplying the FBI with technical information and analytical support. This information was then passed onto the Turkish and Moroccan authorities by the FBI after it was determined the worms originated from those two countries.

Brad Smith, senior vice president and general counsel for Microsoft lauded the cooperation between all parties to two capture those responsible.

"We were all able to see fast action not only spanning multiple countries but multiple continents," he said in a press conference Friday afternoon. "Clearly I think this type of public and private cooperation is a model."

Farid Essebar, 18 of Morocco, and Atilla Ekici, 21 of Turkey are being charged with the distribution of the worm. The FBI believes that Essebar received some kind of financial compensation from Ekici to write the Zytob and Mytob worms, although that has not been confirmed.

"There is an indication that the two subjects were working together," Louis Reigel, the FBI's Cyber Division Assistant Director said.

Although they may be responsible for the creation of other worms as well, including MyDoom, Reigel called that "speculation" at this time. He also said it was too early to estimate financial damages.

Both Smith and Reigel agreed that some positives could be taken out of the past few weeks' events. "The good news is we are seeing consumers act quickly to these things" and patch their operating systems to prevent attacks, Smith said.

Also, the FBI and Microsoft are receiving more cooperation from the public in obtaining information that leads to the arrest and conviction of cyber criminals.

But why does it keep happening to Microsoft? "I think the reality that any company that has popular products will have people around the world try to come and attack them," Smith said.

Although, he maintained that Microsoft is working hard to make its operating systems more secure. "It remains our highest priority."