34 Dutch homes raided in worldwide crackdown on hacking software

Police have raided 34 addresses in the Netherlands in connection with a worldwide investigation into hacking, European justice organisation Eurojust said on Monday.

In total, 350 addresses were raided in 16 different countries. There were no arrests in the Netherlands but 97 people were picked up worldwide. The campaign was coordinated by the Eurojust organisation in The Hague.

The raids were at the homes of people buying and selling a type of hacking software called Blackshades, the public prosecution department said. The software allows people to control computers from a distance via a remote tracking device (RAT).

Webmaster

In the Netherlands, police seized 96 computers and laptops, 18 mobile phones plus 87 USB sticks and hard drives. One of those whose home was raided was an 18-year-old youth in Delft, said to be a webmaster of the Blackshades website, the Dutch public prosecution department said.

The FBI has since closed down the website, the Dutch department said in a statement.

The investigation into Blackshades began in the wake of the arrest of a 19-year-old youth from Rotterdam arrested last October on hacking charges. He is said to have taken control of 2,000 webcams.

 

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