A former computer security consultant was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison for fraud stemming from his involvement with a cyber-crime ring that used botnets to infect an estimated 250,000 computers.  He has also been ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution to companies defrauded by the scheme.  The 27 year-old California man made history last year when he became the first “bot herder” in the United States to plead guilty to wiretapping charges in connection with the use of botnets.  His guilty plea included admissions of accessing protected computers to conduct fraud and disclosing illegally intercepted electronic communications, as well as wire and bank fraud.  He faced up to 60 years in prison and $1.75 million in fines.
Continue Reading “Bot Herder” Slapped With Federal Prison Sentence