Federal Bureau of Investigation - St Louis Field Division - Press Release - Department of Justice

http://stlouis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/honour021507.htm 25/03/2008 12:05:54

NEWS RELEASE
FROM:
Catherine L. Hanaway
United States Attorney
Eastern District of Missouri
111 South 10th Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63102
For Further Information: Call Public Affairs Officer Jan Diltz (314) 539-7719
February 15, 2007
For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON STATE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES OF TRANSMITTING INTERNET VIRUS
St. Louis, Missouri: A man from the Kenmore, Washington has pled guilty to releasing malicious computer viruses,
sometimes referred to as malware, that caused harm to systems across the country, including a computer system in the
Eastern District of Missouri, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today.
"Computer viruses have the potential to cause an incredible amount of damage to the nation's economy," said
Hanaway. “This office will pursue these cases aggressively. Tracking a computer crime can be tedious and difficult. This
case is an example of excellent investigative work by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who responded to
complaints from the Internet community and followed every lead until the case was resolve."
"The FBI places a high priority on the identification and investigation of computer hackers,” said Zachary Lowe,
Supervisory Special Agent, FBI St. Louis Division. “ This case illustrated the highly complex nature of crime on the
Internet and the investigative methods needed to combat this threat."
Honour developed and released harmful computer programs which infected users of Internet Relay Chat ("IRC")
systems. One of the IRC systems affected was DarkMyst, which has computers located in St. Louis. Honour's harmful
programs, referred to generally as "malware," allowed him to gain unauthorized access to compromised computers. FBI
Agents based in St. Louis investigated the case, followed the leads, and eventually obtained a warrant to search
Honour's home. During that search, agents recovered computer equipment. The FBI conducted a forensic examination
of that equipment and found evidence of computer malware and records indicating that Honour had obtained information
from victims' computers.
One of the ways Honour spread his malware was to send messages to IRC users that invited users to click on a link to
a website. Once a user clicked on that link, they were connected to another computer and the malware was downloaded
to that user's computer, creating a backdoor access to the computer of which the user was unaware. Users of the
DarkMyst system were infected by clicking on a link disguised as a link to a movie. When they clicked on that link, other
malware was downloaded. Once the backdoor was discovered, users had to spend time, money, and resources to
remove the unwanted code.
RICHARD C. HONOUR, 31, pled guilty in St. Louis, to one felony count of transmitting internet viruses. He appeared
before United States District Judge Donald J. Stohr. Honour now faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or
a fine of $250,000, when he is sentenced May 4, 2007.
Federal Bureau of Investigation - St Louis Field Division - Press Release - Department of Justice Page 2
http://stlouis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/honour021507.htm 25/03/2008 12:05:54
Hanaway commended the work on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Thomas Dukes, trial attorney with
the Department of Justice Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section, and Assistant United States Attorney
John Bodenhausen, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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