Blackshades + hacking = prison

Sending a message intended to deter cybercrime, US District Court Judge Kevin Castel sentenced the co-creator of the Blackshades malware program to nearly five years in prison for running an operation that infected more than a half-million computers worldwide. Swedish citizen Alex Yücel, 25, asked for leniency and said he felt contrition for marketing the malware to hackers bent on secretly controlling computers so they could steal passwords, owners' identities and more.

Judge Castel didn't give Yücel the minimum 70-month prison term sought by federal prosecutors. But, saying "the message must go forth that this is a serious crime," Judge Castel sentenced him to 57 months behind bars, well over the 30-month punishment urged by Yücel's attorney. "We rely on our computers as an extension of how we live our lives," said Judge Castel. "This is spreading misery to the lives of thousands. That's what this is."