An Arkansas man was sentenced today to 33 months in prison
for aiding and abetting computer intrusions by selling malicious software, or
“malware,” to individuals who used the malware to steal sensitive information,
surreptitiously activate webcams, and conduct other illegal intrusions.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy
Doherty-McCormick for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director
in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the
announcement.
Taylor Huddleston, 27, of Hot Springs, Arkansas was
sentenced by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady.
Judge O’Grady also ordered the defendant to serve two years of
supervised release following his prison sentence. Huddleston pleaded guilty on July 25, 2017.
According to court documents, Huddleston developed,
marketed, and distributed two products that were extremely popular with
cybercriminals around the world. The first is the “NanoCore RAT,” a type of
malware that is used to steal information from victim computers, including
sensitive information such as passwords, emails, and instant messages. The NanoCore
RAT even allowed users to surreptitiously activate the webcam on the victim
computers in order to spy on the victims. Huddleston’s NanoCore RAT was used to
infect and attempt to infect tens of thousands of computers. Huddleston’s other
product, “Net Seal,” was licensing software that he used to distribute malware
for co-conspirators for a fee. For instance, Huddleston used Net Seal to assist
Zachary Shames in the distribution of malware to 3,000 people that was in turn
used to infect 16,000 computers. In his guilty plea, Huddleston admitted that
he intended his products to be used maliciously.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Counsel Ryan K. Dickey of
the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer of the Eastern District of Virginia.
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