A Manchester man has been arrested in a global sting on cyber thieves using malicious software to control and steal private information from personal computers.
A worldwide crackdown targeted the developers and users of Blackshades, which are a set of ‘malware’ tools sold online for less than £100, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
The cyber crime operation was carried out jointly with the FBI, and in Europe with Eurojust and Europol, which resulted in 97 arrests in 16 different countries, 17 of which came in the UK.
Investigators believe more than 200,000 user names and passwords of victims across the world may have been extracted by malware users in the UK.
One of the main ways users were infected by the software is by clicking on external links on social networking and communication platforms.
In many cases victims are unaware they have been infected.
Andy Archibald, deputy director of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Criminals throughout the UK and across the world are finding out that committing crimes remotely offers no protection from arrest.
“The unique scale of this cyber operation shows what can happen when law enforcement agencies at local, national and international level work together to tackle the perpetrators and help keep people safe.”
Malware tools enabled cyber thieves to remotely control operations of an infected computer.
The software then allows the hacker to access the victim’s webcam and turn it on without their knowledge, as well gaining access to personal files and documents – which can then be extracted.
Blackshades can also be used to infect USB drives and transport the malware to various computers.
The NCA arrested 17 British men in Derbyshire, Birmingham, Halesowen, Wolverhampton and Newcastle-under-Lyme, Brixham in Devon, Andover in Hampshire, Ashford in Kent, Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington, Essex, St Andrews, Glasgow, Leeds, Humberside and London.
“Cyber crime is one of the most significant criminal threats to the UK,” added Mr Archibald.
“The NCA is helping to build the capacity of its partners across the country and co-ordinating the UK’s collective efforts as part of the response.
“The commitment of our police partners in the cyber arena has been clearly demonstrated by the work culminating in this week’s dramatic activity.”
Deputy Chief Constable Peter Goodman, the national policing lead on e-crime, added the operation ‘demonstrates the determination of the National Crime Agency, its partners overseas and the UK’s newly-established regional cyber crime units to identify trace and disrupt those whose potential criminal activity presents a threat to the public’s lawful use of the intranet’.
