The Butler "did not" do it as Max Butler says it was "Max Vision"...Both face 60 years...Max This is a follow-up to: PIN Debit Payments Blog: Max Vision/Blind Justice: posted last Dec 27, 2008.
Max Butler, nicknamed Max Vision, now faces up to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to hacking almost two-million credit card numbers. As I stated back in December, this has the potential for either a good book or movie script, especially
if he were to eventually start working for the people instead of against the people, ala Frank Abagnale Jr. and that seems likely in light of a statement released by his attorney:
“Max Vision, known in this case as Max Butler, pled guilty today as a first step toward getting this sad chapter of his life behind him. It is unfortunate that his life circumstances in 2005 led him to participate in this criminal conduct, and he very much regrets doing so,” he wrote.
Here is a quick backgrounder on Max Vision/Butler "The Equalizer."“Max has always preferred using his extraordinary computer skills his computer vision, for the good of society and the cyber world, and he hopes that he will be given the opportunity in the future to once again don the white hat.”
As "Max Vision," he was an incredibly skilled hacker and security expert who boasted that he'd never met a computer system he couldn't crack. As "The Equalizer," he was an FBI informant, reporting on the activities of other hackers.As Max Butler, he was a family man in Santa Clara, California who ran a Silicon Valley security firm. At Max Vision Network Security, he specialized in running "penetration tests," attempting to break into corporate networks to prove that their security wasn't as good as it could be.
Superhacker Max Butler Pleads Guilty
By Kevin Poulsen | Wired
PITTSBURGH — A skilled San Francisco-based computer hacker who once sought to unite the cyber underworld under his benign rule pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges here Monday, admitting he stole nearly 2 million credit card numbers from banks, businesses and other hackers, which were used to rack up $86 million in fraudulent charges.
Max Ray Butler, 36, faces up to 60 years in prison for the two felonies under law, but his actual sentence will be influenced by a number of factors, not least a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that was filed under seal Monday.
Wearing an ill-fitting orange jail uniform and round glasses, his hair cut short and neat, the six-foot-plus Butler towered over the burly deputy marshals that brought him into the court room. Once he settled into his seat, he spoke softly and evenly as he answered questions from the judge, frequently drawing admonishments to speak up for the benefit of the court reporter.
“I actually did the actions that are relevant in the indictment, and I am guilty,” Butler said, at one point.
Butler identified himself in court as “Max Vision,” the name he gave himself in the 1990s when he became a superstar in the computer security community. At that time Butler was billing himself out as a $100-an-hour computer security consultant, and he earned the respect of his peers for creating and curating...
Continue Reading at Wired
More on Max Vision:
Max Vision charged with hacking -- again
Sep 12, 2007 ... Federal prosecutors charge former security consultant Max Butler, better known amongst security researchers as "Max Vision," alleging that ...
Max Vision: FBI pawn?
May 5, 2001... FBI agents called him 'the Equalizer': a security expert and confessed hacker who infiltrated the electronic underground to help the Bureau. www.securityfocus.com/news/203 - 34k
A 'White Hat' Goes to Jail
"Max Vision," a renowned hacker, security expert and FBI informant, is sentenced to prison in a case that angers many in the hacking and cracking community.
