Police in Morocco and Turkey last Thursday arrested two people who the FBI said are responsible for the Zotob worm that infected computer networks at U.S. companies and government agencies mid-month, The Associated Press reported.

On Thursday, Atilla Ekici (Ekiji), 21, was arrested in Turkey and Russian-born Farid Essebar, 18, was arrested in Morocco and will be prosecuted in those countries, according to Louis M. Reigel, the FBI’s assistant director for cybercrimes.

Essebar wrote the code, and Ekici paid him for it, Reigel said, who also hinted that larger forces may be at work.

“There was a financial relationship between the two individuals, though we don’t know if they were working for a larger organization,” he is quoted by Red Herring as saying.

The two are also believed responsible for the Mytob worm, which showed up in February. Microsoft played a large role in locating the suspects, according to Reigel and Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith. Microsoft and FBI officials declined to estimate the monetary damage done by the Zotob worm (and its variations), which targeted computers running Microsoft operating systems.

Popularity: 1% [?]