More than 100 charged in Blackshades crackdown
Over 100 people in the United States and around the world have been charged following an international effort to crack down on the remote access malware, Blackshades.
The coordinated crackdown involved 18 countries, including Australia, Canada and the UK. According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), over 90 arrests were made and 300 searches undertaken globally. Subsequent reports indicate that more than 100 people have been charged in the crackdown.
Known as a remote access trojan or remote administration tool (RAT), Blackshades was created by an organisation of the same name and has been sold since 2010 in underground online hacking marketplaces in over 100 countries for US$40 to US$100 a pop. The tool gives customers a method to obtain unrestricted access to another computer without the owner's knowledge, and the ability to steal passwords and banking credentials, record keystrokes, obtain files, and activate and control webcams.
