The FBI and US Department of Justice had turned out the lights on a cybercriminal forum that doubled as a marketplace for hackers to buy and sell malicious data called “Darkode.”
The marketplace was responsible for malicious software, stolen credit card data, lifted passwords and more according to a CNET report.
The operation was called “Operation Shrouded Horizon,” where law enforcement agencies in nearly 20 countries came together to take out the malicious marketplace.
It “led to the seizure and shut down of the ‘Darkode’ online forum’s domain and servers. Seventy people involved in the forum, including its alleged administrator, have been indicted, with 12 of those indictments being handed down in the US, said the FBI and other officials.”
“This is a milestone in our efforts to shut down criminals’ ability to buy, sell and trade malware, botnets and personally identifiable information used to steal from US citizens and individuals around the world,” said FBI Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano said in a statement, according to the CNET report.
“Darkode” was heralded as one of the most sophisticated forums for cyber criminals according to the FBI. It was a ring of danger where very sensitive information was being passed around. It could be considered one of the centers of all cybercrime, but now that it has been seized, what will prevent these hackers from building another just like it that’s even stronger?
Well, that might be answered with the arrest of two criminals involved in controlling the forum.
“Among those indicted, according to the DOJ, is Sweden’s Johan Anders Gudmunds, the forum’s alleged administrator, who’s also accused of infecting more than 50,000 computers with malicious software and stealing data from those machines about 200 million times,” according to the report.
“Another person charged in the case allegedly developed and offered to sell software that could control, and steal data from, smartphones running Google’s Android mobile operating system. And another person allegedly helped in an effort to infect Facebook users’ computers and use them to send spam.”
You can read the full story for more information on the bust.
