Hacker Hamza Bendelladj sentenced to 15 years

USA - Algerian hacker and developer of malicious SpyEye malware Hamza Bendelladj has been sentenced by a US court to 15 years in prison and three years of supervised release on charges related to his role in developing and distributing the virus.

Bendelladj, 27, had 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.

Bendelladj's court-appointed attorney, Jay L. Strongwater of Atlanta, told Al Jazeera that his client pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for his actions.

His crimes are estimated to have cost at least $100m.

Bendelladj and codefendant Russian Aleksandr Andreevich Panin formed 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.