Hacker Who Launched Virus Gets 2-Year Sentence

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) -- A computer hacker convicted of launching a virus that attacked an estimated 100,000 computers has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.


A jury in Camden last year found 48-year-old Bruce Raisley, of Kansas City, Mo., guilty of launching a malicious computer program. He was sentenced Friday.


Prosecutors say Raisley once volunteered for Perverted Justice, an organization formed to expose suspected pedophiles. He later became critical of the group and had a falling-out with its founder.


The founder retaliated by posing online as a woman, eventually persuading Raisley to agree to leave his wife for her. A Perverted Justice volunteer photographed Raisley waiting at an airport for the fictitious woman, and the incident was publicized.


Raisley developed the computer virus to attack websites that posted articles about the episode.

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