Police in several countries are wrapping up investigations of two 18-year-old Israelis suspected of causing $1.6 million in damages from hawking software intended to crash websites, according to Haaretz.
Indictments are expected to be filed soon.
Itay Huri and another suspected hacker, whose name has not been released, allegedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling their software to clients around the world.
The charges against the pair are likely to include fraud, extortion and violating a number of computer crime statutes for their alleged operating of vDos, a so-called booter service selling kits for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Their tool could result in target sites being so overloaded with incoming traffic they'd collapse.
Attorneys for the two argued that their clients were selling legitimate protective software intended to test how sites could stand up to DDoS attacks
“All our client did was create a product that protects companies,” one of the lawyers was quoted in Haaretz as saying.
The two teenagers have been free on bail since being arrested in September 2016 pending an expected court appearance. The case has unfolded over a long period as the FBI and Swedish government are party to the proceedings.
