The 24-year-old Swedish man and co-creator of the infamous BlackShades remote administration tool (RAT) has plead guilty in a federal Manhattan court on Wednesday to distributing the software.

Alex Yucel’s guilty plea is part of a plea deal he arranged with authorities prior to his March 23 trial, according to a release by the FBI.

Previously, he faced two counts of computer hacking, one count of conspiring to commit access device fraud, one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, all to which he previously plead not guilty.

At the time he faced up to 17 years in prison if convicted, however, this recent plea agreement – one was backed out of unexpectedly earlier this month – waives his right to an appeal if his punishment in less than 88 months in prison.

Now scheduled to be sentenced on May 22, Yucel’s charge faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Arrested in Maldova in 2013 and later extradited to the U.S., Yucel is the mastermind behind the BlackShades organization, which sold the software to hackers for prices ranging from $40 to $50.

Read the Full Article: Source – SC Magazine
http://www.scmagazine.com/yucel-made-plea-deal-before-trial/article/399408/

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