Quebec provincial police conducted raids on Wednesday, breaking up a hacking ring that police say is responsible for an estimated CDN$45 million (US$44.3 million) in damage to computer systems.

The hackers installed remote-controlled "botnet" software on victims' computers in order to run phishing and spamming operations, said Capt. Frederick Gaudreau, ....

If convicted of computer hacking charges, the accused could face 10 years in prison, he said.

Although the hackers operated from about a dozen towns all over Quebec, their botnet network was international in scope, infecting 39,000 computers in Poland, 28,000 in Brazil, and 26,000 in Mexico-- the top three countries affected by the group. In all, they hacked into more than 100,000 computers in 100 countries.

17 Arrested in Canadian Hacking Bust - Yahoo News

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 21-year-old German man has been convicted of sending a photograph of his penis to an unknown woman via mobile phone, authorities said on Wednesday.

The woman reported the sender to police after receiving the photo attachment of the man's genitals, the court said. Officers found evidence he may have sent similar images to other women.

The man did not explain his motive but expressed remorse for the photo, Kropp said. He was fined 150 euros ($220) for distributing pornographic material.

Man convicted of sending penis photo by phone - Yahoo News

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Berlin burglar's break-in took an unexpected turn when he stumbled upon a corpse and felt compelled to call the police.

"He called to say he'd just broken into a flat and found a dead body," said a spokeswoman for Berlin police Thursday. "He gave the address of the place and then hung up."

Officers discovered the 64-year-old resident of the flat dead in his bedroom. The man had passed away about two weeks ago, and authorities are not treating the death as suspicious.

Burglar finds corpse and calls police - Yahoo News

BEIJING (Reuters) - A 19-year-old Chinese student recorded the killing and dismembering of her married lover by her boyfriend, local media said on Friday.

The second-year student in the southwestern province of Yunnan, her boyfriend and another male accomplice had all been arrested after the killing last month, the Southern Metropolis Daily said.

The girl, who was from a struggling family in the capital Beijing and met the victim as a nightclub hostess, filmed as he was killed and his body was cut into "hundreds of pieces," the newspaper said.

"The dismembering was both out of hatred and aimed at making the body unrecognisable," the report said.

Guro comes to China.

Woman filmed killing of lover - Yahoo News

As frustrations mount over repeated delays in the Brian Nichols trial, the statewide public defender system will ask a judge Friday afternoon to remove a private attorney from Nichols' defense team.

The Nichols defense team has already billed almost $2 million in legal fees and expenses. The total is expected to rise once the lengthy trial begins for the man accused of killing four people as he escaped custody in the Fulton County Courthouse almost three years ago. Trial Judge Hilton Fuller has repeatedly delayed the Nichols trial because the defender council has said it has no more money to pay for Nichols' defense.

The lawyers can come up with quotes like this .....

"Lawyers aren't fungible."

.... while billing the county $85 to $125 an hour.

Attorney could be removed from Nichols defense - AJC.com

Now comes a scheme some researchers say amounts to extortion: One site's threat to disable visitors' computers with relentless pop-up ads if they don't pay for a subscription they were automatically signed up for after a free trial.

The threats, reported this week by researchers at security vendor McAfee Inc.'s Avert Labs, affect people who visit the Web site and download software to access a free three-day trial membership.

Visitors do get free access for three days, but the download includes code that then generates a stream of pop-up windows, when the user is online and offline, demanding payment of roughly $80 for 90 days' worth of additional access.

Once the fees are paid, the software can be removed with a special file.

Hidden dangers in visiting porn sites - Yahoo! News