Malware Developer Who Used Spam Botnet To Pay For College Gets No Prison Time (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 3, 2017 @01:00AM from the don't-do-the-crime-if-you-can't-do-the-time dept.

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.

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So... crime's OK by Baron_Yam · 2017-11-03 01:18 · Score: 3, 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!"