US authorities said on Friday they had seized a website used to sell cybercriminal malware called the “Warzone RAT” that could be used to steal data from victims’ computers.
Two people in Malta and Nigeria have been arrested on related charges, they added.
Federal prosecutors in Boston said law enforcement agencies took down four domains that together offered to sell malware that allowed cybercriminals to secretly connect to people’s computers for malicious purposes.
The malware, a so-called remote access trojan, allowed hackers to browse file systems, take screenshots, obtain victims’ usernames and passwords, record keystrokes and monitor computer users through web cameras, prosecutors said.
Jodi Cohen, head of the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, called it sophisticated malware that was used to infect computers around the world.
Two people abroad are now in custody and have been charged in the United States for their alleged involvement.
The indictment, opens a new tab, filed in federal court in Atlanta charged Daniel Meli, 27, of Zabbar, Malta, with unauthorized damage to protected computers and other cyber crimes.
Prosecutors said that since 2012, he sold malware products like the Warzone RAT through online computer hacking forums and offered for sale educational tools, including an e-book. The US government is seeking his extradition.
Prince Onyeoziri Odinakachi, 31, of Nigeria, was charged in an indictment filed in Boston with conspiracy to commit multiple computer hacking crimes, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleged that from June 2019 to March 2023, Odinakachi provided online customer support to users of the Warzone RAT malware.
