Porn is an extremely lucrative business. Even from a malware point of view. Nothing bears witness to this like the fact that 100.000 German computers phoning for porn generated in excess of 12 million Euro. Two German citizens have been jailed as a consequence of their involvement with infecting over 100,000 computers with a Trojan horse.

"These hackers infected a staggering 100,000 PCs and forced them to dial a premium rate number to make them cold, hard cash. The German authorities have done well in bringing these offenders to justice," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "All computer users need to put in place a proper defense to ensure their computers do not become targeted by internet criminals. Every PC should be properly defended by up-to-date anti-virus software, firewalls, and the latest security patches."

The Trojan horse, once on a compromised computer, dialed premium rate 0190 phone numbers in order to contact websites with pornographic content. As a result, one of the persons involved received a sentence of 4 years in jail while the other got 39 months. The two men, one aged 31 and the other 36 years old, produced total incomes of more than 12 million Euro from the phone calls initiated via the compromised modems starting from July 2002 and ending with September 2003. The Osnabrück court rejected a plea by the prosecutors to fine the men 7.75 million Euro on top of the jail sentences.

"Other hackers should look long and hard at the punishment these men have received and ask themselves whether they really think internet crime is a career they wish to continue pursuing," continued Cluley.