FBI captures Mariposa mastermind

Arrest

One of the alleged masterminds behind the infamous Mariposa botnet has been arrested in Maribor, Slovenia, the FBI has claimed.

Thought to be the main developer of the botnet, a 23-year-old going by the pseudonym of Iserdo was captured after a long investigation involving the FBI, Spanish authorities and the Slovenian Criminal Police, according to the Associated Press.

The deputy assistant director for the FBI's cyber division, Jeffrey Troy, said: "To use an analogy here, as opposed to arresting the guy who broke into your home, we've arrested the guy that gave him the crowbar, the map and the best houses in the neighborhood."

No further details have been released on the true identity of Iserdo, who had been selling the botnet package to hackers.

Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs, who helped Spanish police in their investigations into Mariposa, said the saga is not done yet.

"This is not over," Corrons said in a blog.

"The Guardia Civil is still trying to arrest more people regarding the Mariposa botnet. And Iserdo has been selling the bot to different people, who are creating new botnets."

Earlier this year, Spanish police had arrested three men in connection with Mariposa.

Read on to learn about the strange experience Corrons had following the arrests.

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.