Skip to Content
Top

Arizona Man Sentenced to Prison for Botnet Computer Hacking

|

According to the well-known anti-virus company, Norton, a bot is a computer device that is used for hacking, it allows the user access into the virus infected computer; another term being “web robots.” A “botnet” then is considered to be a large network of these virus infected computers, which can be located all over the world. Botnets are extremely powerful, and once they have control of your computer, many things can be placed at risk.

Just last Thursday, a local resident from Phoenix was charged with both using botnets as well as selling them to users, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Joshua Schichtel, 30, has officially been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his crimes of botneting. It is believed that this man is also connected to another well-known hacking group that is located in the District of Columbia. This hacking group mainly targets businesses, and he was also believed to be connected with another hacking group known as the DDOS mafia, which directly targeted business owners through their websites.

Reports show that Schichtel decided to plead guilty to his crime for one count of attempting to botnet multiple computers, full aware of the damages that could be caused. Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, this young man acknowledged his attempt to hack into computers without accurate authorization, which is in violation of the law. As a part of his guilty plea, Schichtel also acknowledged his business of selling these botnets to customers, and claimed that he installed around 72,000 botnet software’s onto computers.

As you can see with the penalties that this man now faces because of his crime, the government takes computer hacking very seriously, and will seek for extreme punishments for those who are accused. Having an experienced attorney is crucial if you or someone you know has been accused of a computer or internet crime. Don’t wait another moment to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney that you deserve! Contact Knowles Law Firm today for more information!