21-year-old who created powerful RAT software sentenced to 30 months

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A 21-year-old Kentucky man who previously admitted to creating and selling a "remote access trojan" (RAT) known as LuminosityLink has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Colton Grubbs had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully accessing computers in the furtherance of a criminal act, among other crimes.

When Grubbs was first charged, he claimed LuminosityLink was a legitimate tool for system administrators, and he never intended for it to be used maliciously. He reversed course in a plea agreement he signed in July 2017. In that document, he admitted for the first time that he knew some customers were using the software to control computers without owners' knowledge or permission. Grubbs also admitted emphasizing a wealth of malicious features in marketing materials that promoted the software.

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