Tiernan rented out his software to send spam messages and used the money he made to pay for college. None of the information taken from infected computers was personal; only computer IP addresses were used. This can still be damaging because the infected computer is linked as the source that is sending out spam to other computers. Botnets use this tactic to avoid getting in trouble, Khosmood said.
“It would be like someone breaks into your garage, sets up this manufacturing operation to assemble spam or advertising and then uses your address for shipping and receiving. While [they’re] there, [they’re] taking up your space and your power. That’s the analogy and so I think that’s intrusive,” Khosmood said.
Khosmood said this type of computer hacking is most often used for spam. Someone infects the computers and then can rent them out and make money while a client is using the computers.
