Cable Forum - Zotob pair arrested

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Authorities in Morocco and Turkey have arrested two men suspected of creating and distributing the Zotob and Mytob worms.

Farid Essedar, 18, of Morocco - codename Diablo - allegedly wrote both worms, FBI and Microsoft officials said in a conference call Friday. The other man arrested was Atilla Ekici, 21, of Morocco - codename Coder - with whom Essedar had a financial relationship.

"We believe there was financial gain on the part of the Moroccan with regards to writing of the code," said Louis Reigel, FBI Cyber Division assistant director.

Zotob, released earlier this month, targeted vulnerable Windows 2000 computers. A variant of it shut down systems at several major media outlets worldwide, including CNN, ABC and the New York Times.