From: Virus Guy 

And somehow VirusTotal doesn't perform the same service?

    "For example, while legitimate scanning services share data
     about uploaded files with the antivirus community and notify
     their users that they will do so, Scan4you instead informed
     its users that they could upload files anonymously and
     promised not to share information about the uploaded files
     with the antivirus community."

It should not be a crime to be able to upload files anonymously, nor 
should it be a crime to test the files against AV software and inform 
only the uploader of the results.  To criminalize this just further 
erodes our individual personal freedom and liberty.

If gov't wants to put people in jail, they need look no further than 
Micro$haft and other irresponsible and incompetent software makers who 
gov't has allowed to grow out of control to become monopolies in their 
respective markets.

Any malware developer can replicate this testing themselves if they run 
internet-isolated versions of AV software on their own systems.

This ruling means that anyone offering their own portal to AV submission 
testing, even with good intentions, must submit their results (to whom?) 
or be similarly jailed?

=======================================

'Scan4Yyou' Operator Gets 14-Year Sentence

A Latvian “non-citizen,” meaning a citizen of the former USSR who 
resided in Riga, Latvia, was sentenced to 168 months in prison today for 
offenses related to his operation of “Scan4you,” an online counter 
antivirus service that helped computer hackers determine whether the 
computer viruses and other malicious software they created would be 
detected by antivirus software, announced Assistant Attorney General 
Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. 
Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, and 
Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI Washington Field 
Office's Criminal Division.

Ruslans Bondars, 38, was convicted on May 16, following a five-day jury 
trial, of one count of conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and 
Abuse Act, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count 
of computer intrusion with intent to cause damage and aiding and abetting.

“Ruslans Bondars helped malware developers attack American businesses,” 
said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “The Department of Justice 
and its law enforcement partners make no distinction between service 
providers like Scan4You and the hackers they assist:  we will hold them 
accountable for all of the significant harm they cause and work 
tirelessly to bring them to justice, wherever they may be located.”

“Ruslans Bondars designed and operated a service that provided essential 
aid to some of the world's most destructive hackers,” said U.S. Attorney 
Terwilliger. “This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to combating 
global computer crime by taking away the essential tools upon which 
hackers rely.”

“We continue to face sophisticated cyber threats from state-sponsored 
hackers, hackers for hire, organized cyber syndicates, and terrorists,” 
said FBI Special Agent in Charge DeSarno. “This prosecution should serve 
as an example to those who assist or facilitate criminal hacking 
activity that they will be exposed and held accountable no matter where 
they are in the world.”

According to testimony at trial and court documents, from at least 2009 
until 2016, Bondars operated Scan4you, which for a fee provided computer 
hackers with information they used to determine whether their malware 
would be detected by antivirus software, including and especially by 
antivirus software used to protect major U.S. retailers, financial 
institutions and government agencies from computer intrusions.

A Scan4you customer, for example, used the service to test malware that 
was subsequently used to steal approximately 40 million credit and debit 
card numbers, as well as approximately 70 million addresses, phone 
numbers and other pieces of personal identifying information, from 
retail store locations throughout the United States, causing one 
retailer approximately $292 million in expenses resulting from the 
intrusion.

Another Scan4you customer used the service to assist the development of 
“Citadel,” a widely used malware strain that was used to infect over 11 
million computers worldwide, including in the United States, and 
resulted in over $500 million in fraud-related losses.  The Citadel 
developer took advantage of a special feature of Scan4you that allowed 
its integration directly into the Citadel malware toolkit through an 
Application Programming Interface, or API.  The API tool allowed 
Scan4you users the flexibility to scan malware without the need to 
directly submit the malware to Scan4you's website.

At its height, Scan4you was one of the largest services of its kind and 
had at least thousands of users.  Malware developed with the assistance 
of Scan4you included some of the most prolific malware known to the FBI 
and was used in major computer intrusions committed against American 
businesses.

Scan4you differed from legitimate antivirus scanning services in 
multiple ways.  For example, while legitimate scanning services share 
data about uploaded files with the antivirus community and notify their 
users that they will do so, Scan4you instead informed its users that 
they could upload files anonymously and promised not to share 
information about the uploaded files with the antivirus community.

In issuing the sentence, the court found a loss amount of $20.5 billion. 
  In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Liam 
O'Grady ordered Bondars to serve three years of supervised release.  A 
decision regarding forfeiture and payment of restitution to victims of 
the offenses is forthcoming.

The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.  Trial Attorneys 
C. Alden Pelker and Ryan K. Dickey of the Criminal Division's Computer 
Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. 
Attorneys Kellen Dwyer and Laura Fong of the Eastern District of 
Virginia prosecuted the case. The Government of Latvia, including the 
Latvia State Police International Cooperation Department, the Latvia 
State Police Cybercrime Unit, and the General Prosecutor's Office of the 
Republic of Latvia – International Cooperation Division, provided 
assistance and support during the investigation.  Additional assistance 
was provided by the Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs, 
the FBI's Atlanta Field Office and the Operational Technology Division, 
and the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the District of Minnesota and the 
Northern District of Georgia.


https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/operator-counter-antivirus-service-scan4you-sentenced-14-years-prison
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2