Global Raids Target 'Blackshades' Hacking Ring

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303409004579566310503798566.html

By Danny Yadron and Christopher M. Matthews
The Wall Street Journal
May 16, 2014

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and foreign police agencies have 
launched a series of raids around the world at the homes of people linked 
to a type of hacking software called Blackshades, according to posts on 
hacker forums and people familiar with the investigation.

The software is what experts call a "rat''—remote access tool—that allows 
people to control computers from a distance. The targets of the raids are 
suspected of buying and selling Blackshades and were subjected to searches 
and seizures in recent days, according to people familiar with the case.

The searches are part of a coordinated crackdown on an international ring 
of suspected criminal hackers, according to the people familiar with the 
probe. Federal prosecutors in New York plan to announce the results of the 
raids as soon as Monday, said those familiar with the situation.

The people familiar with the case said hackers sold the Blackshades 
software from a website—called bshades.eu—that was part of an underground 
hacking marketplace in which people write programs for others to buy. The 
website, which has been taken offline, and the maker of the Blackshares 
software couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

[...]

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