Dendroid Creator And Darkode Buddies Get Apprehended By The FBI

Morgan C. Culbertson created not just a piece of malware for the Android, but also sold his creation.

For only $300, not only does a customer get software that can be used to control Androids, but also lifetime updates and support. A steal, for the buyer willing to invest in a piece of software for world domination, or at least, Android domination.

Not only did Dendroid have the capacity to hijack an Android, it could also gain access to the SMS functions, blocking and intercepting these. Aside from that, Dendroid could also steal photos from the device, explore the browser history, steal contact and user account information, record calls from the device, and even send messages on the user’s behalf. In short, it’s one of the most sinister pieces of malware ever created and rolled out.

Aside from creating Dendroid, Culbertson and his other friends at the cybercrime forum Darkode were involved in different types of cybercrime, from identity theft, to wire fraud, to deploying spambots that hijacked email accounts, to botnets that took over Facebook accounts as well. Indeed, the Darkode community was a major threat to cyber and digital security the world over.

On July 15th, the FBI published a document, stating that Culbertson and some of his buddies at Darkode will be facing charges in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The FBI labeled the forum as “one of the gravest threats to the integrity of data on computers” in America and the world at-large. Indeed, the move has been an unprecedented accomplishment for the Bureau.

Darkode has since been deactivated, and the community dismantled.

Culbertson and the rest of his posse were involved in varying degrees of cybercrime and identity theft. Some other defendants belonged to 19 other countries, 20, if the United States is included. The FBI was aided by partners in 19 other countries in an operation they called “Operation Shrouded Horizon.”