The FBI is hunting a group of hackers, including the founder of cryptocurrency mining company NiceHash, over an alleged malware creation and distribution scheme via the dark web forum Darkode.
Authorities say Darkode was a “criminal organization” powered by a password-protected online forum. It was used by “high-level hackers” and other cybercriminals to buy, sell, trade and share hacking tools, information and related ideas.
American Thomas McCormack, Spaniard Florencio Carro Ruiz, and Leniqi and Matjaz Skorjanc have been charged with conspiracy, as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Each such conspiracy involves extortion, identity theft, and fraud in connection with access to these devices, as stated in the press release published by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on June 5.
More specifically, Matjaz Skorjanc is the creator of the company NiceHash. Skorjanc also created the malware that managed to infect more than a million machines with the impressive Mariposa botnet – this is one of the largest infection records ever recorded.
Skorjanc and his team reportedly promoted the malware by claiming that it could spread quickly to other computers upon infection and that it could steal banking credentials or even launch DDoS attacks, ZDNet reports.
“Members of Darkode allege that they exchanged skills and products with each other to infect victims’ computers and electronic devices around the world with malware so that they could access and control those devices,” the DoJ said.
Curiously, Skorjanc has already spent almost five years in prison for creating the Mariposa botnet and was released in late 2017.
The FBI's most recent indictment concerns his (and his associates') efforts to spread malware through the hacking forum Darkode.
If convicted on all of these charges, each defendant could face up to 20 years in prison. The wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracies carry a maximum sentence of 30 years.
But that's even if authorities can catch them. So far, they've only managed to capture one of the four fugitives, namely American Thomas McCormack.
Skorjanc and his two other accomplices are still missing.
