The following article came across my desk.

--Dutch Police Notify Users Infected with Bot Malware

(August 8, 2008)

Dutch police have notified people whose computers were infected with malware that made them part of a botnet comprising more than 100,000 PCs.  People were redirected to a web page containing directions on disabling the malware and a link to an online virus scanner. The police were able to automatically forward the infected users to the help page because they have taken control of the botnet. A 19-year old man was arrested last week when he tried to sell the botnet to someone in Brazil for GBP 25,000 (US $47,839).

You can view the whole article by going to:

www.computerworlduk.com/management/security/cybercrime/news/index.cfm?NewsId=10427

While the computers comprising a botnet are typically left infected but without direction when the bot herder is caught, the action by the Dutch Police in this case is an interesting turn of events.

My question to you is if your PC was infected and there was a way to inform you about it would you like to be informed – even if it was the tool used to infect your pc that was used to inform you?      

- Shaun