Among the tens of thousands of buyers of the RAT Trojan were rapists
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) indicted a 24-year-old Australian for developing and selling the Imminent Monitor RAT Trojan, which was used to track users remotely. The developer has sold the software to more than 14,500 people in 128 countries, according to AFP.
“A subset of IM RAT buyers in Australia (14.2%) are domestic violence defendants. In addition, one of the buyers is registered with the Child Sex Offenders Registry. Of the 14 people, 11 purchased the RAT during the period of their domestic violence order (DVO)
Law enforcement claims the developer has earned between $300,000 and $400,000 since the campaign began in 2013, mostly used to pay for food delivery and purchase of “consumables.” The Australian faces 6 charges with a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The program began to be sold on hacker forums and a dedicated website as a Remote Administration Tool (RAT), which could be purchased for $25 for a lifetime license that included customer support.
Recall that in 2019, as part of a coordinated international operation, Europol neutralized the cybercriminal network involved in the distribution of Imminent Monitor RAT. The infrastructure has been rendered harmless, and the Imminent Monitor website has also been disabled.