Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2009/12/17/china_jails_game_trojan_vxers/

China cages game Trojan hackers

Go directly to jail, do not collect any gold

By John Leyden

Posted in Security, 17th December 2009 12:40 GMT

Chinese authorities have sentenced 11 members of a malware gang to long stretches behind bars, after the group was convicted of creating and distributing Trojans designed to steal the login credentials of online gamers.

The malware slingers were sentenced to up to three years behind bars and fined a total of $120,000. More prosecutions are pending against other alleged gang members, IDG reports

The group are collectively blamed for stealing login information from five million gaming profiles and selling them via the digital underground, making a cool 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) in the process. The group allegedly made their illicit income by selling game artifacts (such as gold coins) associated with compromised accounts. ®