UA Student Pleads Guilty to Launching Botnet Attacks

A former undergraduate at the University of Akron pleaded guilty Thursday to charges he hacked into the school’s computer system to launch botnet attacks.

Mitchell L. Frost of Ohio was charged with one count of causing damage to a protected computer system and one count of possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices. He could be sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.

According to court documents, between August 2006 and March 2007 while enrolled at UA, Frost used school computers to access IRC channels to control other computers and computer networks via botnet zombies, which were located throughout the United States and in other countries.

Frost then used the compromised computers to spread malicious code, commands and information to more computers, so he could get information and data from the compromised computer networks, and for the purpose of launching DDoS attacks on computer systems and websites.

Frost made his plea before Magistrate Judge Nancy A. Vecchiarelli in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. He will be sentenced Aug. 5.