Malware Developer Who Used Spam Botnet To Pay For College Gets No Prison Time (bleepingcomputer.com) 57
An anonymous reader writes: The operator of a 77,000-strong spam botnet was sentenced to two years probation and no prison time after admitting his crime and completely reforming his life. The former botnet operator is now working for a cybersecurity company, and admitted his actions as soon as the FBI knocked on his door back in 2013. The botnet operator, a 29-year-old from Santa Clara, California, says he was tricked by fellow co-schemers who told him they were not doing anything wrong by infecting computers with malware because they were not accessing private information such as banking or financial records. Furthermore, the botnet operator escaped prison time because he used all the money he earned in getting a college degree at Cal Poly instead of using it on a lavish lifestyle or drugs. This case is similar to the one that MalwareTech (aka Marcus Hutchins) now faces in the U.S. for his role in developing the Kronos trojan, but also after turning his life around and working as a cybersecurity researcher for years.
So, basically he used the money to set himself up. (Score:2)
But hey, it's only a valuable college degree that helped him get a cybersecurity job.
Not like he's gonna live high on the hog off a job like that. He might as well be working at a gas station!
Re:So, basically he used the money to set himself (Score:4, Insightful)
He spent the money on rehabilitating himself, and will pay taxes with his job. Or would you rather the government lock him up, not receive those taxes, and instead spend even more money on his custody?
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Yes, in order to avoid encouraging everyone from paying for college with criminal activities.
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From a social impact of the individual's criminality, the threat has passed, hence, there's no need to lock him up at our expense.
From an economic impact/motivational factor for society, there's civil suits. Let him have his pockets drained until he's repaid the costs he caused others to incur.
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Incarceration isn't just about rehabbing criminals.
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America, F-yeah! (Score:4, Insightful)
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I think to pay my student loans, I'm gonna sell meth...
There was a high school chem teacher in NM that tried that to pay for his chemo treatments. It didn't end well for him but made a helluva story.
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Nah, porno can allegedly be found for free these days.
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You have to turn to crime to just be able to afford tuition.
Well, that's what happens when government starts giving away shackles, errr, student loans.
The demand for college goes through the roof, and not having a degree is seen as a sign of failure, further fueling the demand.
Supply and demand - demand expands, and the cost of college skyrockets.
It's a classic bubble.
lack of bankruptcy for student loans drives costs (Score:2)
lack of bankruptcy for student loans drives costs up as it's very easy to get one. 100K for a masters mid-evil study's with small hope of getting a job that can pay that off is no problem for the banks.
Unproven no? (Score:4, Insightful)
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But Hutchins messed up already deployed NSA malware, so surely he must be convicted of something!
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Sounds like a case of wilful ignorance (Score:5, Insightful)
... says he was tricked by fellow co-schemers who told him they were not doing anything wrong by infecting computers with malware because they were not accessing private information such as banking or financial records.
I might have believed that claim 30 or so years ago. However, anyone having anything at all even remotely to do with technology would have to be living under a rock in order to not understand that infecting computers that you do not own is considered a serious crime.
That would be like claiming that you thought it was OK to drive yourself home after 6 drinks because you were careful not hit any parked cars or pedestrians and you made it home.
I would call that wilful ignorance.
I was originally going to say that this whole thing sounds like a case of #4 from "The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security" [ranum.com]. Then I reconsidered because it seemed like he had "good" intentions. However, I cannot imagine who would hire this guy after the claim that he made that he did not know what he was doing was wrong. Definitely sounds like a case of #4.
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Anyone can be charged with violating some law. Even if it's just a scare tactic to get a plea and there's no chance of a conviction.
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I might have believed that claim 30 or so years ago
Well, seeing as law enforcement and the judicial system still operate like it's 30 years ago, it makes sense.
So... crime's OK (Score:4, Interesting)
Crime is OK if you use the proceeds for education. This seems like a bad precedent to set, especially with computer crime. It's not like we don't already have bunches of script kiddies imagining they're fighting a just cause while committing computer crimes.
So many talented but ethically-challenged kids out there can look at this and say, "Well, if I don't get caught I'm rich and if I do I get probation. Yay, free tuition!"
Re:So... crime's OK (Score:4, Funny)
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My local university apparently has a lot of prostitutes, but that's mainly an option for reasonably attractive straight girls and gay men... or those willing to fake it, I suppose.
As a straight male, I did manual labour from age 16 to save up for university. Maybe crime would have been a better option, but unfortunately I was raised with ethics and morals.
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Crime is OK if you use the proceeds for education. This seems like a bad precedent to set, especially with computer crime. It's not like we don't already have bunches of script kiddies imagining they're fighting a just cause while committing computer crimes.
So many talented but ethically-challenged kids out there can look at this and say, "Well, if I don't get caught I'm rich and if I do I get probation. Yay, free tuition!"
While I can certainly agree that this would be a bad thing in the hands of people who are always trying to game any and all systems for their own benefit, I'm actually leaning the other way.
Reading the summary the first thought that went through my head was "What the hell, our justice system is actually trying to find justice and not just revenge as is almost always the case?!"
The very fact our revenge system is so expected to dole out revenge and ignore justice, such that people actively see justice as a n
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>The very fact our revenge system is so expected to dole out revenge and ignore justice, such that people actively see justice as a negative thing simply because it is so far from the norm, is a very poor reflection on us as a nation.
Justice is historically synonymous with 'getting your just desserts' or similar idea. It's all about revenge.
Fundamentally though, the purpose of the legal system is to ensure the rules are followed to the benefit of the society. Locking someone up punitively doesn't reall
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This seems like a bad precedent to set
No this seems like a natural consequence. The bad precedent was set when education became unaffordable in the first place.
$50,000 (Score:1)
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50k in Silicon Valley will get you a brand new Maytag box in one of the premium alleys. No recycle-bin scrounging for this guy's palace! And prime real-estate next to a restaurant dumpster.
time served (Score:5, Funny)
Prison is stupid and cruel for things like this (Score:2)
Just garnish some of his earnings
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He's been let off way too easy. 2 years probation? So after 2 years he can freely start stealing computer resources again?
How about docking all his pay until he's paid for his tuition, all cost to the legal system and additional damages?
Better yet; send him on a no-expenses-paid apology-tour to all 77.000 individuals he stole electricity, bandwidth and CPU resources from?
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Pint of jurisprudence (Score:3)
Consistent Rulings (Score:3)
After releasing the malware (Score:1)
So the old IT adage... (Score:2)