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US sends Algerian hacker to 15-yrs behind bars

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algerian hacker

27-year-old Algerian hacker and developer of malicious SpyEye malware Hamza Bendelladj will spend the next 15-years in jail according to a judgment delivered by a US court for developing a computer virus to steal millions of dollars.

The hacker and his Russian accomplice Aleksandr Andreevich Panin were both sentenced for forming a computer-hacking crime ring that set out to steal money from bank accounts of individuals and institutions by infecting millions of computers in the US.

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Bendelladj pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse, and 11 counts of computer fraud and abuse. He had faced 60 years prison and a $24m fine.

But Jay Strongwater, Bendelladj’s attorney told Al Jazeera that his client cooperated with the government and pleaded guilty on all counts hoping to get a reduced sentence for his collaboration.

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