The decision might be influenced by the arrest of "xVisceral"

Jul 9, 2012 13:00 GMT  ·  By

Jean-Pierre Lesueur, aka DarkCoderSc, the developer of the infamous DarkComet remote administration tool (RAT) has revealed his intentions to terminate the project. The decision comes after the application has been found to be misused on numerous occasions.

“It is with deep regret that i am here to announce the end of project DarkComet RAT after over 4 years of developement, hardwork day and night to offer you for free a tool with the will to meet community's expectations for a program of type Remote Administration,” he explained.

According to Lesueur, the project was launched as a solution for those who needed a remote administration tool, such as families wanting to keep an eye on their children and those in need to control their machines from anywhere in the world.

However, in the past few months, DarkComet has been associated with malware and used many times by cybercriminals. The fact that the RAT has been utilized in Syria to spy on the country’s activists also greatly influenced the decision.

“Why did I take such a decision? Like it was said above because of the misuse of the tool, and unlike so many of you seem to believe I can be held responsible of your actions, and if there is something I will not tolerate is to have to pay the consequences for your mistakes and I will not cover for you,” he explained.

As experts from Symantec highlight, the recent FBI operation that ended with the arrest of 24 cybercriminals has had a great impact on the developers of remote administration tools, especially since one of the apprehended individuals is xVisceral.

xVisceral, or Michael Hogue, is accused of selling the BlackShades RAT, a piece of software he advertised for its ability to take over computers for malicious purposes.