That's the scoop from a U.K. PC publication quoting an IBM Internet Security Systems' security expert during a debate at NetEvents Forum in Barcelona.

Joshua Corman, of IBM Internet Security Systems, is quoted as saying that the 1-year-old "had been a tremendous financial success because it created a botnet of compromised machines that could be used to launch profitable spam attacks," the story says.

It's no doubt a profitable business model, as attackers get paid for sending out the spam, as well as a cut of the profits generated by the spam.

And it seems the spam, and presumably the profits, are not going to stop any time soon. According to this Washington Post blog, both Russian and U.S. government law enforcement agencies are now aware of the worm's authors, and where they reside.

"The right people now know who the Storm worm authors are," said Dmitri Alperovitch, director of intelligence analysis at security firm Secure Computing. "It's incredibly hard because a lot of the FSB leadership and Putin himself originate from there, where there are a great deal of people with connections in high places."

So it looks like we know who the authors are, and they’re infecting thousands of systems and raking in millions in illegal profits and there's not much we can do about it.

I'm in the wrong business.