Joshua Schichtel, a 30-year-old man from Phoenix, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling access to and use of thousands of malware-infected computers.
According to court documents, Schichtel sold access to “botnets,” which are networks of computers that have been infected with a malicious computer program that allows unauthorized users to control infected computers.
Individuals who wanted to infect computers with various different types of malicious software (malware) would contact Schichtel and pay him to install, or have installed, malware on the computers that comprised those botnets.
Schichtel pleaded guilty to causing software to be installed on approximately 72,000 computers on behalf of a customer who paid him $1,500 for use of the botnet.
The case was investigated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Corbin Weiss, Senior Counsel in the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Schichtel was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth in the District of Columbia, who also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release.
This case is a prime example of the dangers of cybercrime and the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions.
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Key Facts
- State: District of Columbia
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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