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| 92 million AOL email addresses are said to be in
the hands of spammers. |
A 24-year-old former AOL employee, who is suspected of stealing
a list of 92 million email addresses of the ISP's customers and
selling it to spammers for more than $100,000, is reported to have
agreed a plea bargain with prosecutors.
Under the terms of the deal, prosecutors would recommend a fine
and up to two years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea by
Jason Smathers of Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. However, the deal
depends on agreement from a US District Court judge.
The list of email addresses said to have been sold by Smathers,
was said to have been used by another alleged spammer, 21-year-old
Sean Dunaway, to promote an internet gambling website before being
sold on to others. One of the other spammers reported the theft to
the authorities following his own prosecution, according to court
papers.
When Smathers was originally arrested in June it was
claimed that he and Dunaway faced up to five years in prison and
fines of $250,000.
"The valuable list of AOL subscribers is still believed to be
circulating amongst the spammer community - although the ISP is
working hard to defend its users from junk email," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "No-one should belittle the
nuisance and harm that can be generated by spam email bombarding
users' inboxes."
Smathers is expected to appear again in court today.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend
businesses from the threats of both spam and viruses.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.