Four men acquitted of DNSChanger charges

Four men arrested in 2011 as part of a two-year international police investigation into the DNSChanger malware have been acquitted of their charges by an Estonian court.

Dubbed “Operation Ghost Click,” the investigation involved the FBI and Estonian law enforcement and resulted in the arrest of six men for their connection to the DNSChanger malware, which is capable of clickjacking, or rerouting traffic on compromised machines to websites and online advertisements of the attackers' choosing.

The malware is reported to have infected over 4 million computers globally and reaped €10.5 million (A$15 milion) for the gang.

Four of the men, including alleged ringleader Vladimir Tsastsin, were acquitted of their charges by an Estonian court because prosecutors could not produce specific victims of their alleged crimes.

The men will remain in the custody of Estonian authorities until a decision is reached regarding a potential extradition to the United States. Estonia has already agreed to extradite three men allegedly involved in the scheme.

The state will have to pay the defense counsel fees of €300,000 (A$460,468)

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com