Developer of the prolific NanoCore backdoor gets prison

Full-featured trojan catered to password thieves, Peeping Toms, and ransomware scammers.

Read the whole story

 

[peachpuff]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

 

[Nachowarrior]

"Attackers pulled off the hack by compromising the account of an anti-adblocker service the sites used"

see what happens when you get pushy about ads?

 

[Nachowarrior]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

 

[DRJlaw]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

I find it odd that you two fail to understand that the government is empowered to do things that private citizens cannot, such as spy on foreign entities and citizens, levy taxes, and have an armed air force.

 

[NoSkill]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

I find it odd that you two fail to understand that the government is empowered to do things that private citizens cannot, such as spy on foreign entities and citizens, levy taxes, and have an armed air force.

Even companies can make spyware like NanoCore. The difference is they only sell the product and advertise as a corporate monitoring tool or testing agent.

 

[Koga Onutalepo]

Based only off the headline, I had at first thought this was that flight-sim dev with the Chrome snooper.

 

[AdamM]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

I find it odd that you two fail to understand that the government is empowered to do things that private citizens cannot, such as spy on foreign entities and citizens, levy taxes, and have an armed air force.

Even companies can make spyware like NanoCore. The difference is they only sell the product and advertise as a corporate monitoring tool or testing agent.

Seeing as that’s a legitimate usage for software being used on corporate equipment I don’t see the issue.

Kind of like a company selling hunting rifles or cooking knives by not advertising them as murder weapons. Those sneaky bastards.

 

[mjeffer]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

Well, they could always just go to prison and be locked up 24/7, I'm sure they'd just hate working for them in lieu of prison. But really, I think that happens a lot more in TV than in real life.

 

[dlux]

In an update in July, Poulsen reported that the self-taught programmer was pleading guilty after admitting NanoCore was intended for malicious purposes all along.

The sub-head for that article says,

Taylor Huddleston, an Arkansas programmer who once insisted the program he created was a legitimate remote administration tool, said he’s ready to accept responsibility Tuesday.


That's nice. Has Poulsen accepted responsibility for his original article?

 

[stine]

I'd like to hear the tapes of all of his interviews with the FBI et al.

 

[Batmanuel]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

I find it odd that you two fail to understand that the government is empowered to do things that private citizens cannot, such as spy on foreign entities and citizens, levy taxes, and have an armed air force.

Even companies can make spyware like NanoCore. The difference is they only sell the product and advertise as a corporate monitoring tool or testing agent.

Well, there’s that little matter of the splash screen you usually see when you log on to a corporate system, waning you that all of your activity is being monitored. That disclosure creates a huge legal distinction.

 

[Deleted member 1]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

I find it odd that you two fail to understand that the government is empowered to do things that private citizens cannot, such as spy on foreign entities and citizens, levy taxes, and have an armed air force.

Even companies can make spyware like NanoCore. The difference is they only sell the product and advertise as a corporate monitoring tool or testing agent.

The difference is intentions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea

and as always:
http://brownwhitelaw.com/if-i-just-talk ... -delusion/

 

[Iggy the Jiggy Piggy]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

I find it odd that you two fail to understand that the government is empowered to do things that private citizens cannot, such as spy on foreign entities and citizens, levy taxes, and have an armed air force.

Even companies can make spyware like NanoCore. The difference is they only sell the product and advertise as a corporate monitoring tool or testing agent.

The difference is intentions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea

and as always:
http://brownwhitelaw.com/if-i-just-talk ... -delusion/

That last link is very important.

 

[mjeffer]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

 

[r3loaded]

He was an absolute muppet. You're supposed to market it as a "lawful interception and surveillance" package and sell it to various law enforcement and intelligence agencies. That's where the real money is.

 

[Emon]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Maybe not 33 years, but I think he got off way too lightly. This guy helped people whose sole purpose was to harm others. If this guy was developing and selling tools that helped robbers break into people's homes, the length would have been much longer. We need to put the punishment on part with those crimes.

Robbery is a violent crime (or often becomes one)

You literally just said, "we should punish him more because we would have punished him more if he did a different crime!"

Well golly that was insightful.

 

[GreenReaper]

He was an absolute muppet. You're supposed to market it as a "lawful interception and surveillance" package and sell it to various law enforcement and intelligence agencies. That's where the real money is.

Sure, but this was a passion project. You've gotta give it to him - he gave up a lot to follow his dreams!

 

[ivantod]

I wonder what the flight sim guy from a few days ago is thinking about this...

 

[Argotron9001]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Maybe at the state level but not federal which is the comparable jurisdiction to this case. 1st and 2nd degree murder under federal law come with mandatory life sentences with no chance of parole. 1st degree murder opening you up to the death penalty.

https://law.justia.com/codes/us/2010/title18/

So your claim that federal hacking crimes come with longer sentences than federal murder charges is flat out false.

 

[soulsabr]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Too late

 

[science is good]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Maybe not 33 years, but I think he got off way too lightly. This guy helped people whose sole purpose was to harm others. If this guy was developing and selling tools that helped robbers break into people's homes, the length would have been much longer. We need to put the punishment on part with those crimes.

Robbery is a violent crime (or often becomes one)

You literally just said, "we should punish him more because we would have punished him more if he did a different crime!"

Well golly that was insightful.

I was referring to burglary, which is a non-violent crime. I really don't see much difference in making tools so that a burglar can steal from you and making tools so a hacker can steal from you. Other than one occurring online, what differences do you see?

 

[hestermofet]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

Slavery is not illegal in the US. Section 1 of the 13th Amendment (which in general abolished slavery):

“Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

 

[hestermofet]

I wonder what the flight sim guy from a few days ago is thinking about this...

Nothing. Not only are the details of the case totally different, there IS no case in the flight sim story. The developer is not based in the US so is not subject to
American laws and justice system.

 

[mjeffer]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Maybe at the state level but not federal which is the comparable jurisdiction to this case. 1st and 2nd degree murder under federal law come with mandatory life sentences with no chance of parole. 1st degree murder opening you up to the death penalty.

https://law.justia.com/codes/us/2010/title18/

So your claim that federal hacking crimes come with longer sentences than federal murder charges is flat out false.

Huh? I made no such claim. Did you read what i wrote and what I was responding to?

 

[Dawnrazor]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Maybe not 33 years, but I think he got off way too lightly. This guy helped people whose sole purpose was to harm others. If this guy was developing and selling tools that helped robbers break into people's homes, the length would have been much longer. We need to put the punishment on part with those crimes.

Robbery is a violent crime (or often becomes one)

You literally just said, "we should punish him more because we would have punished him more if he did a different crime!"

Well golly that was insightful.

I was referring to burglary, which is a non-violent crime. I really don't see much difference in making tools so that a burglar can steal from you and making tools so a hacker can steal from you. Other than one occurring online, what differences do you see?

Nobody is going to get shot during an online robbery, it's a nonviolent crime

 

[CatsRidingRoombas]

Good riddance to yet another dark side hacker, I hope he learned his lesson, most of the time in life the path of least resistance is doing things legally.

 

[Einstein76]

If only he'd work for the nsa he'd get a raise rather than prison time.

I find it odd that endentured servitude and slavery are illegal, yet deals like "work for us and you won't go to prison" are common.

The amendment that abolished slavery has an exception for prisoners.

Edit: Outposted again.

 

[Einstein76]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

Some people don't even get 33 years for killing someone and you want to give a guy who wrote a minor hacking tool 33 years? Last thing we need is to lock people up longer for non violent crimes.

Maybe not 33 years, but I think he got off way too lightly. This guy helped people whose sole purpose was to harm others. If this guy was developing and selling tools that helped robbers break into people's homes, the length would have been much longer. We need to put the punishment on part with those crimes.

Your right of course. Just look at all the prisons we've had to build to house all the crowbar manufacturers.

 

[Veritas super omens]

Can we sell the prisoners?

 

[VultureTX]

Only 33 months. It should be 33 years.

...

Nobody is going to get shot during an online robbery, it's a nonviolent crime

non violent but not non life-threatening, in the UK NHS computers were locked from access in hospitals during an online extortion. Other US medical facilities lost control on radiology and pharmacy systems that were hacked, had a patient died from lack of these services a hacker would be charged with murder during the commission of a felony.

 

[Iggy the Jiggy Piggy]

Did he really admit to creating these tools for criminals or was a case made up based on visiting a site with "hacker" in the name?

There is a significantly higher percentage of the population in prison in the USA. We either have a significantly higher percentage of bad people here or a society that likes to lock people up.

 

[Onyx Spartan II]

Did he really admit to creating these tools for criminals or was a case made up based on visiting a site with "hacker" in the name?

There is a significantly higher percentage of the population in prison in the USA. We either have a significantly higher percentage of bad people here or a society that likes to lock people up.

If that's all the cased was based on (that he visited a site with the word "hacker" in the title), his lawyer was incredibly incompetent in not getting him off.

 

[Sifaka]

It is hard to reconcile this sort of conviction with how we treat the manufacturer of the AR-15. If you write software that could do harm go to jail, but if you make a weapon that is designed to do harm you can earn millions.

 

[DRJlaw]

Did he really admit to creating these tools for criminals or was a case made up based on visiting a site with "hacker" in the name?

There is a significantly higher percentage of the population in prison in the USA. We either have a significantly higher percentage of bad people here or a society that likes to lock people up.

If only someone had obtained a PDF of the entire "Statement of Facts" document, included it as the first hotlink of the article, and expected readers with such questions to actually click upon it. Then readers could have direct access to the juicy quotes included in section 11.d.

 

[DRJlaw]

It is hard to reconcile this sort of conviction with how we treat the manufacturer of the AR-15.

It's easy to reconcile this sort of conviction with how we treat the distributors of guns and opioids.

If you write software that could do harm go to jail, but if you make a weapon that is designed to do harm you can earn millions.

Actually it's "if you distribute software that you know will be used for an illegal purpose go to jail," but if you write software that merely could be used for illegal purposes you can earn millions by selling to legitimate customers rather than obvious criminals.

 

[Megabeard]

It is hard to reconcile this sort of conviction with how we treat the manufacturer of the AR-15. If you write software that could do harm go to jail, but if you make a weapon that is designed to do harm you can earn millions.

exactly. my weapon is my charming good looks

 

[Seraphiel]

Marketing fail.

If he had sold it as security software intended solely for internal organizational use (and scrubbed some of the more obvious ransomware features) he probably could have gotten away with it.