A suspected spyware developer has been arrested in Japan. 31-year-old Atsushi Takewaka is suspected of accessing victims' computers to steal Internet banking passwords, which he used to illegally withdraw money from online accounts. Investigators claim that Takewaka, in conspiracy with 41-year-old Kiichi Hirayama, used spyware to steal the banking password of a jewelry retailer in Kawasaki, and stole 216,000 yen from the account.
Takekawa was quoted by authorities as saying that Hirayama asked him to develop the spyware program.
Police have accused the two men of using similar tactics to illegally withdraw about 11 million yen from nine accounts at Mizuho Bank, eBank Corp and Japan Net Bank, in July 2005. According to police, Takekawa is alleged to have told them, "I created the spyware in about three months using a range of software. I wanted money to live on."
Hirayama is said by police to have also admitted attempting to steal money out of bank accounts by sending CD ROMs to firms that, when run on a PC, would install the spyware.
Law enforcement agencies in Japan are continuing to investigate the case.
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