The Federal Bureau of Investigation has shut down a "major computer hacking forum" called Darkode. The Darkode site now displays a banner with a message from the FBI, Department of Justice, and many foreign police agencies.
U.S. authorities working with law enforcement partners abroad have shut down the Darkode online forum used by cybercriminals around the world and charged 12 people linked to the site, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney David Hickton announced the charges in Pittsburgh and called Darkode "a cyber hornet's nest of criminal hackers."
"Of the roughly 800 criminal Internet forums worldwide, Darkode represented one of the gravest threats to the integrity of data on computers in the United States," he said.
The Justice Department said the FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Pittsburgh led the investigation, known as Operation Shrouded Horizon. It included authorities from Europol and 20 countries in Europe and Latin America and included Israel, Nigeria and Australia.
12 individuals have been charged:
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @04:42AM
Word is that some Darkode guys were selling or renting out (yes seriously renting as in 25k a month) full blown software packages to take advantage of banking systems. If they sold tech to governments like hacking team did, there would not be a problem. Some Darkode members kicked the hornet's nest by going after the wealthiest of monied interests.
This is the dark side of security coming into the light. Be offensive for people in power and you are golden. Be offensive for yourself and roll the dice. Defense isn't as fun or lucrative, certainly more stressful, but it is usually an honest living.