Darkode Forum: German authorities have arrested a Slovenian citizen at the request of the U.S.. The defendant is believed to be one of the founders and administrators of the now-defunct Darkode forum, once described as “the most sophisticated English-language forum for criminal computer hackers in the world.” He is also accused of writing and selling botnet malware software.
Matjaz Skorjanc, 32, also known as iserdo and serdo from Maribor, Slovenia, was indicted along with three other suspects in a “closed” indictment filed in December 2018 and made public in June 2019 by the Colombian prosecutor’s office. Skorjanc and his associates were accused of conspiring, developing, and distributing malware through Darkode.
As described in the indictment, Darkode was an online malware marketplace that facilitated the development and sale of malicious software. To join the forum, you had to be invited by an existing member. After being invited, the prospective member had to prove that they had the necessary skills and products. A new member gains full access to the forum after being accepted by other existing members. Of course, the decision of the administrators carried more weight. The forum Admins could revoke the access of members whose behavior they deemed unacceptable.
Investigators believe that Skorjanc was the first administrator of Darkode and controlled its activities from September 2008 to March 2010. While acting as the Admin Skorjanc collaborated with a bot software known as the Mariposa botnet which he sold on the Darkode Forum.
Authorities believe that the botnet infected more than 1 million computers that have been destroyed.
Darkode was shut down in 2015 by a globally coordinated operation called Operation Shrouded Horizon. During the investigations, the involved law enforcement agencies examined or arrested suspected members of Darkode. Apart from the 12 suspects who were convicted by the US, three high‑ranking members of Darkode who were captured in earlier phases of the operation were deemed the main perpetrators.
Two of the four suspects charged together with Skorjanc remain fugitives. The first suspect and the only American citizen was arrested in December 2018. Skorjanc is to be extradited to the US to face the charges against him, where if found guilty he could be sentenced to decades in prison.
