2010-12-31 17:35:41
NetBus or Netbus is a software program for remotely controlling a Microsoft
Windows computer system over a network. It was created in 1998 and has been
very controversial for its potential of being used as a backdoor.
NetBus was written in Delphi by Carl-Fredrik Neikter, a Swedish programmer in
March 1998. It was in wide circulation before Back Orifice was released, in
August 1998. The author claimed that the program was meant to be used for
pranks, not for illegally breaking into computer systems. Translated from
Swedish, the name means "NetPrank".
However, use of NetBus has had serious consequences. In 1999, NetBus was used
to plant child pornography on the work computer of a law scholar at Lund
University. The 3,500 images were discovered by system administrators, and the
law scholar was assumed to have downloaded them knowingly. He lost his research
position at the faculty, and following the publication of his name fled the
country and had to seek professional medical care to cope with the stress. He
was acquitted from criminal charges in late 2004, as a court found that NetBus
had been used to control his computer.