Stony Point man charged in connection to RAT malware

A Stony Point man accused of using malware to steal online account information from hundreds of people was arrested Monday by federal authorities.

Kyle Fedorek is among nearly 100 people said to be connected to an organization known as Blackshades, a group alleged to have sold malicious software to thousands of cyber criminals world-wide since at least 2010.

Fedorek is accused of patronizing Blackshades, using their software to steal information from more than 400 people. United States Attorney Preet Bharara said the 26-year-old was also found with several other types of malicious software on his computer at the time of his arrest.

Officials described Blackshades' flagship product as a "sophisticated and pernicious" program known as a Remote Access Tool, or "RAT."

The product, valued at $40, allows users to "infect" other computers and remotely controls web-cams, logs key strokes and enables access to private online account information, photographs and videos without the victim's knowledge.

Once installed on a victim's computer, tools in the program called "spreaders" help spread the malware to other computers, authorities said. More than 500,000 computers are believed to have been affected by the program world-wide.

Alex Yücel, 24, of Sweden, is the alleged owner of the organization. He was arrested in Moldova in November and has since been charged with two counts of computer hacking and one count each of conspiring to commit access device fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Fedorek has been charged with two counts of computer hacking, each carrying a 10-year federal prison sentence. It was not known if he had obtained a lawyer Monday. A message left at his Stony Point home was not returned.

The three others named by U.S. authorities Monday — Brendan Johnston, 23, of California, Marlen Rappa, 41, of Middletown Township, N.J., and Michael Hogue, 23, of Arizona — either face or have already pleaded guilty to similar charges.

Authorities have arrested 90 people in 19 countries over the course of the ongoing investigation. A domain name associated with Blackshades has also been seized.

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