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Cybercrime levels have reached epic proportions recently, with new hacking techniques and malware samples being announced nearly every day. As cybercriminals develop more malicious threats to steal individuals' sensitive information, oftentimes, the law has a hard time catching up.

However, the FBI alongside police from 19 countries recently joined forces in an effort to stop as many cybercriminals as they could associated with the Blackshades malware sample. According to CNN, authorities just finished a two-year operation that "exposed and crippled a frightening form of cybercrime that has affected hundreds of thousands of users around the world." 

Blackshades malware co-created arrested
Among the more than 90 individuals arrested during the cybercrime crackdown was Swedish hacker Alex Yucel, a co-creator of the malware sample Blackshades. The other cyberthieves arrested during the international sweep were all somehow connected to the Blackshades malware strain.

Many first heard about Blackshades when Cassidy Wolf, Miss Teen USA, came forward as a victim of "creepware." She was one of the more well-known users impacted by the malicious sample, however, CNN reported that over a half million individuals have been victims of the sample's silent spying tactics.

According to the FBI, Blackshades was specifically designed to attack devices running on the Windows operating system. Symptoms of Blackshades infection include the mouse cursor moving unexpectedly, the light for the Web cam turning on when being used, and the monitoring being turned off when the device is being utilized. Victims have also reported being alerted of unauthorized logins to back accounts or money transfers being completed without their permission, and authentication credentials being compromised. Additionally, the malware can also present similar to ransomware samples, locking users out of their personal files with encryption and demanding a ransom to unlock the information.

Hacker community puts out a warning
As police worked to make their first round of arrests, hackers attempted to warn each other through cybercrime forums, spreading the word that law enforcement was cracking down on those connected with Blackshades. After searches were completed at suspects' residents, the hackers would take to the Web to notify others in the community that police were working to make arrests. 

Police still have work to do
This most recent joint law enforcement initiative was one of the largest strikes against cybercrime on a global scale. Overall, police completed more than 300 searches, working to ensure coordination to prevent suspects from destroying evidence connected with Blackshades. While these efforts will no doubt slow down Blackshades infections, authorities know their work is far from done.

Currently, the malware sample is being sold for $40 on the blackmarket and many cyberthieves operate similarly to a business.

"These cybercriminals have paid employees, they have feedback from customers - and other criminals - to continually update and improve their product," noted Leo Taddeo, FBI New York cybercrime investigations chief.

Due to this architecture, as well as the fact that the sample is marketed like any other simple-to-use software program, the infection footprint left by Blackshades is continually growing.

"It's very sophisticated software in that it is not very easy to detect," Taddeo said. "It can be installed by somebody with very little skills."

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