A 19-year-old Cheyenne, Wyoming man pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom Wednesday in connection with the development of software to take over thousands of computers and gain access to financial information.
The case against Jason M. Milmont marks the first time someone has been prosecuted for using peer-to-peer software in such a way, federal prosecutors have said.
Milmont faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for felony unauthorized access to a computer to further a fraud.
Federal prosecutors indicated in June that Milmont would be allowed to enter a plea in Wyoming, although he was charged in Los Angeles.
“That was part of his cooperation on the agreement,” said John Powell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cheyenne, of the guilty plea.
Milmont is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 23 in federal court.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the defendant has agreed to pay more than $73,000 in restitution.
The charge stems from Milmont’s alleged security compromise of 5,000 to 15,000 computers by modifying the file-sharing program LimeWire.
Users who downloaded the software from a Web site offering a modified version of the program would be infected and turned into “botnets.” The software exploit came to be known as the Nugache Worm.
Milmont’s attorney, Bob Rose, was unavailable for comment.
U.S. Attorney Wesley L. Hsu, chief of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section in Los Angeles, has said Milmont engaged in some of the alleged activities before he was 18 years old, but that he has been charged as an adult.
Hsu called the manner in which Milmont obtained information — developing his own version of the file-sharing program LimeWire — “very creative.”
The type of program Milmont is accused of creating is known as “malware.”
Hsu said computer and Internet users can help prevent such hacking by regularly updating the software they use.
The assistant U.S….