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Dutch police arrest 19-year-old accused of bot herding

Dutch Police have arrested two brothers suspected of running a botnet containing up to 100,000 computers.

Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested a 19-year-old man and his 16-year-old brother for running and selling a botnet.

The computer hacker is alleged to have built a botnet controlling 40,000 to 100,000 computers across the world. Authorities estimate that 1,100 of the hacked computers were based in the Netherlands.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation first started investigating the botnet and contacted Dutch authorities for assistance.

The man was arrested on Thursday, and the arrest made public on Friday. Dutch Authorities as a rule don't release the names of suspecs for privacy reasons.

After building up the botnet network, the man is alleged to have sold it for an estimated Euro 25,000 (AU$41,800) to someone in Brazil. The buyer has been arrested and is awaiting extradition to the U.S.

The alleged bot herder faces trial in the Netherlands, where he will face charges including breaking into computers.

The investigation also implicated the main suspect's 16-year-old brother. He too has been arrested, but was released pending further investigations. The main suspect will be arraigned on Friday when he is expected to be kept in prison for an additional 14 days to allow for further investigations.

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More about: Brother, Federal Bureau of Investigation

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