Internet: Malware with 24h support services

So called Trojan and Malware kits have been around since quite some time and most of the people working with or on the Internet should by now have realized that the creation of Malware and spying on computers has developed into a full-fledged industry. And half-hearted security on web sites, corporate and private computers provides their share to the continuously growing size of bot networks together with operating systems that could sometimes best be described with the infamous term unsafe at any speed .

We’ve seen the first of these Malware kits in the 1990s - then targeted at so called script kids - but since these years of hard to find niche players tools this part of the software industry has definitely matured and broadened its user base. Today with “hacking for money” or “hacking economics” these packages are offered similar to “normal” custom software.

While quite a few of the underground providers have offered their “customer” kind of “after sales services” for a while one Trojan kit developer group has now gone one step further.

As Antivirus company Panda Software recently reported, the developers of the Trojan kit Turkojan are offering support services normal software users could just dream about.

24h/7d online support via email / IMS, six months unlimited software replacement (in case the tool kit gets detected by any Antivirus solutions) etc. Besides these services the USD 249 Gold Edition of the Trojan Kit includes features like web cam and audio streaming from the victims camera and microphone together with real-time screen viewing. And while you could still control the remote computer via a DOS Shell (the kit is only available for MS Windows versions, surprise, surprise) how about a little comfort by using your mouse and keyboard to control the remote computer just like yours. Is it still necessary to mention that the tool can capture passwords and log keyboard usage?

If this is not an example that Malware has become a real organized business looking solely for profit - well we don’t know what else to say. And with tools like these almost anybody without detailed computer or software knowledge seems to be able to hack into normally secured machines.

(video after the link)

Click on the image below for the link (multimedia)

To round up this impression have a look at the video above that in detail explains how to use the tool. Other videos are available in different language besides the “after sales” technical support provided from the developers.

This industry is definitely on its way to provide their tools as “Malware as a service“. And this business model might also be the one some government agencies seemingly have in mind when they are trying to test the public opinion or pave the way for their so called “Government backdoors or Trojans“.

Is it already so late and have we all forgotten about the lenghty discussions on the Clipper chip (also here) not so long ago?

But then Mr. and Ms. Jones go on, behave like good citizens, and digitizes every bit of your private life.

Further information:

CIO Magazine created a series on Hacker Economics
(Part 1) New Online Crime Economy
(Part 2) Hacker Economics 2
(Part 3) Hacker Economics 3

Pandasoft’s PandaLabs article on the tool with additional screenshots and description on the different service levels offered.