Mild punishment for a web cam voyeur
by Nikola Strahija on February 26th, 2005 A computer science student from Spain was fined 1000 pounds and additional 3000 for victim compensation for using a malicious code to spy on a young woman via her webcam. G.J.A.L. (initials of the pervert) used the Subseven Trojan horse to watch his victim without her consent.
His behaviour only came to light after he accidentally emailed pictures of his victim to the girl herself instead of one of his mates.
Last month Spanish police arrested a 37-year-old man in Madrid on suspicion of using an unnamed Trojan horse to steal confidential banking information from net users and spy on them online. Anti-virus firms report an increase in the use of Trojan horses which allow hackers to spy on victims using infected machines.
The Subseven Trojan horse was possibly the first piece of malware to include the ability to take over a victim's webcam, but it's since become a standard part of the virus writer's arsenal. Virtually every new instance of the Rbot internet worm, for instance, includes the capability to take photos and movies of unsuspecting computer users.
