Cyber Risks · Unit 42 Palo Alto Networks

Imminent Monitor – a RAT Down Under

Summary: Unit 42 traced the Imminent Monitor RAT, sold since 2012 by a developer using the handle "Shockwave™" at $25 per license, to an identity it referred to the Australian Federal Police, which opened Operation Cepheus with the FBI and Canadian CRTC. The Australian-led investigation yielded evidence suggesting in excess of 14,500 customers, and the operation disabled the RAT's licensing system, cutting users off from their victims.

Why it matters: The AFP found a significant number of Australian users of this software were also respondents to Domestic Violence Orders, a link the researchers call unlikely to be coincidence - a $25 commodity tool with 14,500 customers reached into intimate partner violence, not just financial crime.

Read the original at Unit 42 Palo Alto Networks ↗

Topics
Cybercrime & Law Enforcement
Related