Hacker Who Never Hacked Anyone Gets 33-Month Prison Sentence
A hacker who was arrested and pleaded guilty last year—not because he hacked someone, but for creating and selling a remote access trojan that helped cyber criminals—has finally been sentenced to serve almost three years in prison.
Taylor Huddleston, 26, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in July 2017 to one charge of aiding and abetting computer intrusions by building and intentionally selling a remote access trojan (RAT), called NanoCore, to hackers for $25.
Huddleston was arrested in March, almost two months before the FBI raided his house in Hot Springs, Arkansas and left with his computers after 90 minutes, only to return eight weeks later with handcuffs.
This case is a rare example of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charging someone not for actively using malware to hack victims’ computers, but for developing and selling it to other cybercriminals.
Huddleston admitted to the court that he created his software knowing it would be used by other cybercriminals to break the law.
He initially started developing NanoCore in late 2012 with a motive to offer a low-budget remote management software for schools, IT-conscious businesses, and parents who desired to monitor their children’s activities on the web.
source | thehackernews