Darkode, an infamous cybercrime marketplace, has been shut down

The FBI and the US Department of Justice have brought an end to Darkode, a notorious hub of cyber criminals, where people could buy and sell malicious software, stolen credit card data, lifted passwords and more. Twelve people linked to the site have been charged and more than 70 cyber criminals in the United States and 19 other countries are targets of an ongoing investigation. The site had around 300 active members.

On the forum, hackers sold malware, spam tools and services and methods for cyber attacks on governments and companies. They also solicited others to install it on unsuspecting victims’ computers. Darkode had a database including stolen personal information of 39,000 people and 20 million emails and usernames that could be used to target people for identity theft and other fraud schemes.

Those arrested or searched live in the US, UK, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia Spain and Sweden. There are victims in all of these countries and others.

The charged personnel are accused of committing computer fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, selling and using malware programs that could take over computers and mobiles to steal data and send spam emails.

Source: CBC News