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rb2d2 · Sep 25, 2004

Three Spaniards arrested in alleged global hacking scheme

Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Authorities have arrested three Spaniards suspected of infecting 13 million computers with a program that allowed them to steal personal and financial data worldwide, Spain's Civil Guard said Wednesday.

The Civil Guards worked with the FBI and computer security firms in Canada, the United States and Spain to investigate what a Spanish official called the world's biggest network of virus-infected computers.

The suspects "copied personal and financial data of individuals, companies and official institutions in more than 190 countries," the Civil Guards' statement said.

In addition to gaining illegal access to personal and financial information, the virus would have permitted those controlling the system to mount a large cyberattack from the infected computers, a U.S. official said.

Police found computer and personal information from more than 800,000 users in a search of the computers at suspects' homes, the statement said.

Shocked