ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A high-school dropout from Arkansas who developed software used by hackers has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Twenty-seven-year-old Taylor Huddleston of Hot Springs, Arkansas, pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Alexandria to aiding computer intrusions.
He admitted developing two programs called “NanoCore” and “Net Seal.” The first allowed users to take over another computer from a remote location. The second was a licensing program used to distribute malware to paying customers.
Huddleston sold and marketed the programs on hacker forums, knowing they would be used illegally.
Huddleston said he developed NanoCore while he was living out of a mobile home as a way to lift himself out of poverty.
The 33-month sentence he received Friday was less than the seven-year term sought by prosecutors.
