Two convicted SpyEye hackers get long US prison sentences

Partners, for now: China and the US have come to a tentative agreement on guidelines for requesting assistance on cyber crime, said US officials.

Two computer hackers were sentenced to a combined total of 24 years and six months in prison for their roles in developing and distributing malware called "SpyEye" blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to financial institutions worldwide, the US Justice Department said. 

A US District Court judge in Atlanta handed down prison sentences of nine and a half years to Aleksandr Panin, 27, of Russia and 15 years to Hamza Bendelladj, 27, of Algeria, the department said in a statement.