Website selling spying tools taken down by UK

A website known as Imminent Methods which sold spying tools and equipment has been taken down by the UK authorities.

According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), the policed searched more then 80 properties in areas that included Hull, Leeds, London, Manchester, Merseyside, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Somerset and Surrey.

According to the police, more then 14 people were arrested around the world in connection to selling these spying tools and even usage of such tools.

Imminent Methods site sold a tool called the Imminent Monitor Remote Access Trojan (IMRAT) for just $25. This tool allowed the attacker to get full access of the system or device they wanted. The attacker could steal data and also had access to the webcam and mic of the victim’s device that was infected with this Trojan.

Phill Larrat of the National Crime Agency said that these tools were used to:

commit serious criminality including fraud, theft and voyeurism

The website was however taken down and that stopped the cyber spying tools from working.

Professor Alan Woodward who happens to be a cyber-security expert at University of Surrey said that by taking control of the website the police were:

Take a good look at what the site has been up to, including who has bought the illegal items

The authorities now know how many users bought the malware on offer. They will now be working to unmask the 14,500 who were daft enough to buy this malware.

Organised crime gangs, as well as more petty criminals, are switching their attention to cyber-crime rather than, say, drugs, because it is perceived there will be a significant return on their investment and much lower risk,

He also told the BBC:

Organised crime gangs, as well as more petty criminals, are switching their attention to cyber-crime rather than, say, drugs, because it is perceived there will be a significant return on their investment and much lower risk,