FBI targets two "scareware" rings in U.S., Europe (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Police in the United States and seven other countries seized computers and servers used to run a "scareware" scheme that has netted more than $72 million from victims tricked into buying fake anti-virus software.

Twenty-two computers and servers were seized in the United States and 25 others in France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday.

The suspects involved in the scheme, who were not identified, planted "scareware" on the computers of 960,000 victims. The scareware would pretend to find malicious software on a computer. The goal is to persuade the victim to voluntarily hand over credit card information, paying to resolve a nonexistent problem.

Latvian authorities seized at least five bank accounts believed to have been used by the leaders of the scam, and the Justice Department said nothing about arrests.

U.S. authorities also said on Wednesday they disrupted a second scam, charging two Latvians with running a similar scareware scheme that led to $2 million in losses through an advertisement placed on a Minnesota newspaper's website.

Peteris Sahurovs, 22, and Marina Maslobojeva, 23, were arrested on Tuesday in Latvia and face two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of computer fraud in the United States, the Justice Department said.

"Scareware is just another tactic that cyber criminals are using to take money from citizens and businesses around the world," said Assistant Director Gordon Snow of the FBI's cyber division.

'BOTNETS'

Law enforcement officials would not confirm whether the seizures were directly connected to a raid early on Tuesday morning at a web-hosting company in northern Virginia where they took servers, a move that disrupted more than 120 websites.

U.S. authorities have been more aggressive this year in trying to stem cybercrime and have been scrambling to investigate several hacking attempts on U.S. institutions and corporations.

In March, law enforcement raided servers used by a "botnet," essentially computers controlled by criminals without the knowledge of the computers' owners. Authorities severed the IP addresses, effectively disabling the botnet.

That operation, nicknamed Rustock, had been one of the biggest producers of spam e-mail, with some tech security experts estimating it produced half the spam that fills people's junk mail bins.

In April, government programmers shut down a botnet which controlled more than 2 million PCs around the world to spread a computer virus named Coreflood, which grabbed banking credentials and other sensitive financial data. Losses were estimated at about $100 million.

A botnet is essentially one or more servers that spread malicious software and use the software to send spam or to steal personal information or data that can be used to empty a victim's bank account.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Diane Bartz; Editing by Peter Cooney and Todd Eastham)

Nissan targets 8% global market share by 2016 (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese auto giant Nissan Motor on Monday said it would aim to achieve a global market share of eight percent by the end of fiscal 2016 as it unveiled a six-year business plan.

Nissan, which is 44.3 percent owned by French partner Renault, also said it aimed to lift its operating profit margin to eight percent in that period under its "Nissan Power 88" growth plan.

"We are definitely on the offensive," company president and CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters.

Japan's second-biggest auto maker by volume after Toyota had a 5.8 percent global market share last year.

The plan will see the Nissan-Renault alliance aim for cumulative electric vehicle sales of 1.5 million units in that time. Nissan last year began selling its all-electric Leaf car in Japan, the United States and parts of Europe.

It said it would also aim for a 10 percent share of the Chinese market while boosting its presence in economies such as India and Brazil, where it will build a new factory producing 200,000 vehicles per year.

Nissan currently has a 6.2 percent market share in China.

"In 2012, we will have nearly doubled our production capacity to 1.2 million units," in China, Ghosn said.

"We will further increase our capacity to be in line with our goal of 10 percent market share," he said.

In Russia, Nissan and its partner Renault are in talks to take a combined more than 50 percent stake in major Russian auto maker AvtoVAZ, which sells the Lada brand.

Yokohama-based Nissan will continue to focus on zero-emission vehicles and low-emission technologies while also aiming for a 10 percent share of the global luxury market with its Infiniti brand.

Nissan aims to expand its sale network to 7,500 major points of sale globally, from the current 6,000.

The automaker last week said annual net profit this fiscal year will fall 15 percent year-on-year after Japan's March 11 earthquake hit output, while it also struggles with high raw material costs and a strong yen.

But despite lower profits, it expects global sales to rise 9.9 percent in the year to a record 4.6 million units, with full production returning in October after parts shortages caused by the quake.

The 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami destroyed entire towns, left 23,000 dead or missing and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing atomic crisis.

Japanese firms were hit hard by power and chronic parts supply shortages, with the likes of Nissan, Toyota and Honda having to sharply cut production and shut plants due to a lack of crucial components.

Nissan shares closed up 0.11 percent at 845 yen ahead of the announcement.