back to article No, the Mirai botnet masters aren't going to jail. Why? 'Cos they help Feds nab cyber-crims

The three brains behind the Mirai malware, which infects and pressgangs Internet-of-Things devices into a botnet army, have avoided jail. In December, Paras Jha, 22, Josiah White, 21, and Dalton Norman, 22, pleaded guilty in the US to breaking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after developing and masterminding the Mirai …

  1. TonyJ

    Not a new technique...

    ...is it, really? The old poacher-turned-gamekeeper routine.

    Also, I'd suggest they're doing for more good than having years of their lives wasted in jail.

    Rehabilitation |= Revenge. Unusual to see this in the eyes of the US legal system.

    1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

      Re: Not a new technique...

      While it's shocking to see sense deployed (particular in the US litigation centred economy) it's almost refreshing to see a change of heart and direction. Considering what I did to my Uni's systems, and these days I've have been booted out and given a cyber-criminal record as a "reward", and that the prison system is meant to reform individuals this is pretty much a very sensible outcome. One wouldn't want to encourage people to commit crimes in order to get jobs, but at least these days there is a growing sub-industry in white-hat vulnerability researchers. This white-hat industry is not going to go away and while the aim should to be to remove the need for it at all but, being realistic, it's a new industry and it's here and will only grow. Welcome to the new age of gamekeepers.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This bit makes me queasy...

    "...and have voluntarily abandoned significant amounts of cryptocurrency seized during the course of the investigation"

    In other words, they 'voluntarily' paid a bribe that has been factored into their sentence reduction.

    Is there any part of American society that does not have a $ value?

    1. Wolfclaw

      Re: This bit makes me queasy...

      No, if you dont have the $ then you are of little importance to the USA !

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: This bit makes me queasy...

      "Is there any part of American society that does not have a $ value?"

      Probably the victims. How far does $127,000 go in terms of damage caused? At the very least that crypto-currency should be liquidated and the proceeds added to the compensation.

      1. imanidiot Silver badge

        Re: This bit makes me queasy...

        And how much of that money will ACTUALLY reach the victims. Probably not much at all. Half of it will be gone on "Administrative fees" in the blink of an eye.

    3. Nick Ryan Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Re: This bit makes me queasy...

      Is there any part of American society that does not have a $ value?

      President?

      Ah. Oops. Oh dear. This could go wrong. Very wrong.

  3. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Trollface

    "he began his botnet-herding career by taking down Minecraft players"

    What ? The MONSTER !

  4. Mike 16

    Two minds

    I agree that incarceration is probably a lose/lose for society, but I can't help wondering if there is more to it.

    I can't shake the notion that they will be employed mainly in creating malware for the FBI rather than on chasing other outlaws.

    The Abagnale reference is taken, yet you don't typically hire a ninja to trim your topiary, no matter how good he is with a sword. But if you are darn tired of that pesky neighbor, it might make sense.

  5. Loxkey

    Missed Opportunity?

    The fine feels like it’s a dollar short of being epic or $127,000 too much given the amount of value in those 2,500 hours of community service due to the FBI.

  6. thomas k

    Mirai ...

    Not to be confused with Miruai (Seaweed), a very dark green fountain pen ink from Sailor.

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