16 more Zotob suspects

News reports this morning are noting that the FBI and Turkish authorities have announced that they have identified 16 more suspects in the Zotob case. No word yet on how the additional 16 suspects were identified, however given the appearant financial motives behind the incident and the scale of the operation, it may have been classic detective work that lead to this latest development.

The FBI said the Turkish authorities have identified 16 more individuals as suspects in the recent Zotob and the Mytob worm attacks. But Louis M. Reigel III, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, said no additional arrests had been made as of Monday.

Based on a code analysis of the worm and its variants, there are at least three gangs of hackers involved with the worm, believes Finnish anti-virus software maker F-secure, according to Mikko Hypponen, director of the company’s anti-virus research. If Turkish officials make the arrests, the action would represent the biggest roundup in the history of the information security business, said Mr. Hypponen.

Source: 16 Sought in Zotob Gang Dragnet, Red Herring online, August 30, 2005. Also see  Cyber-cops arrest 16 more Zotob suspects, by Robert Jaques, posted to vnunet.com 31 Aug 2005.