Darkode Suspect Pleads Guilty Of Selling Botnet Access

A New Yorker who infiltrated thousands of computers in order to run a lucrative spam bot pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court.

A computer became infected if a user clicked on a link in a Facebook message sent by one of their friends who had been previously infected.

Operating under the pseudonym “Phastman”, the 29-year-old pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of violating the CAN-SPAM Act.

Prosecutors alleged that Crocker sold access to a botnet composed of computers infected by malware spread through Facebook accounts.

That code would access the victim’s Facebook contacts and send out more messages with malicious links.

Facebook Spreader was featured on Darkode, and Crocker and others also sold botnet access on the forum, according to prosecutors. They were periodically paid between $200 and $300 for every 10,000 active computer infections.

Eric Crocker, a 39-year-old Binghamton, New York resident could face up to three years in prison and a fine that could reach $250,000.

Last month, the above-mentioned authorities charged-7819/”>shut down the Darkode online forum used by cybercriminals around the world and charged 12 people linked to the site.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh led the investigation into Darkode, known as Operation Shrouded Horizon.

Sentencing will take place on November 23 2015.