The Federal prosecutors announced on Monday charges against the alleged international hacker group Blackshades that has been linked to the trafficing of malicious software that enables the hackers to gain secret control of more than a million computers worldwide.
The documents that have been released by the Mahattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has accused five individuals in the court. The documents were released in the Federal court in New York City. Bharara described the technology as “inexpensive and simple to use” but called its invasiveness “breathtaking.”
FBI Special Agent Samad Shahrani has filled an affidavit with the charges that allege that Blackshades has been in operation since at least 2010 and “distributed malicious software to thousands of cybercriminals througout the world.”
According to the documents, the group’s program of choice was Blackshades Remote Access Tool – or RAT – which the affidavit has described as a “sophisticated piece of malware that enables cybercriminals to remotely and surreptitiously gain control of the victim’s computer.”
After installing the RAT on an unsuspecting victim’s computer, an attacker could “access and view documents, photographs and other files … record all of the keystrokes entered … steal the passwords to the victim’s online accounts and even activate the victim’s Web camera to spy on the victim,” Shahrani wrote.
The federal investigation has revealed that the RAT has been purchased by thousands of users in more than 100 countries. The officials also stated that the had recently arrested more than 90 people in 19 countries who are suspected of using or distributing the malicious software.
