Operation: Bot Roast is an operation by the
FBI to track down
bot herders, crackers, or virus coders who install malicious software on computers through the Internet without the owners' knowledge, which turns the computer into a
zombie computer that then sends out spam to other computers from the compromised computer, making a
botnet or network of bot infected computers. The operation was launched because the vast scale of botnet resources poses a threat to
national security.[1]
The operation was created to disrupt and disassemble bot herders. In June 2007, the
FBI had identified about 1 million computers that were compromised, leading to the arrest of the persons responsible for creating the
malware. In the process, owners of infected computers were notified, many of whom were unaware of the exploitation.[1][2]
Some early results of the operation include charges against the following:
Robert Matthew Bentley (known as "lsdigital") of Panama City Florida, pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud for using botnets to install advertising software.[3]
Robert Alan Soloway of
Seattle, Washington, pleaded guilty to charges of using botnets to send tens of millions of spam messages touting his website.[1]