International authority assault gets 'Dendroid' malware coder arrested

As hard as it is to hunt down hackers, the FBI and other agencies continue their fight against malicious software developers and digital attackers. The latest major operation was a raid on a criminal-focused forum known as Darkode, a network with the main purpose of sharing, buying and selling tools for cybernetic crimes.

This mission extended across multiple countries, including “Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States”.

We are most interested in one specific member of this criminal network – Morgan C. Culbertson. He caught our attention because he happens to be the only Android-focused arrested member in the list. This man is famous for being the creator of Dendroid, a malware program with the ability of remotely accessing and controlling your device, hence allowing the hacker to steal information and data from Android phones.

Morgan C. Culbertson, aka Android, 20, of Pittsburgh, is charged by criminal information with conspiring to send malicious code.  He is accused of designing Dendroid, a coded malware intended to remotely access, control, and steal data from Google Android cellphones.  The malware was allegedly offered for sale on Darkode.

Here’s the real kicker: Morgan is only 20 years old, which would make him a very young coder at the time of creating Dendroid, last year (if only he used his skills to improve the Android ecosystem). In addition to arresting Culbertson, the FBI and other international agencies conducted searches and arrests on 70 Darkode members. 12 of these were American, including Morgan C. Culbertson.

The FBI and DOJ are probably not done yet, though. This community is said to consist of 250-300 members. It was a very exclusive clique, for obvious reasons. The website was password protected and the only way users could join was by being referred by a current member and going through a detailed screening process.

Modern criminals are not only in the streets, they are also online. As always, the best way to stay secure is by making smart choices. Try not to download apps from suspicious or unknown sources, and don’t fall for deceiving tricks. There are other ways to make sure you are secure, though. That WiFi Protector VPN lifetime subscription is looking much more enticing now, isn’t it?