Backdoor code writer shuts up shop over arrest fears

 

Gallery

By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 10 Jul 2012 at 15:26

The creator of a backdoor access tool has pulled the plug on the project amid fears that misuse of the software could land him in prison.

The DarkComet Remote Admin Tool (RAT) was always controversial due to its documented use by hackers, despite creator Jean-Pierre Lesueur claiming it was a development and access tool with legitimate uses.

After discovering it was being used by Syrian officials to spy on opposition leaders - and under pressure from authorities - Lesueur said he was stopping distribution of the tool before he landed in hot water.

Lesueur was worried he could be held responsible for its misuse, whether by hackers or security officials in regimes that could use it to infiltrate dissidents’ computers.

The recent arrest of the Blackshades RAT project author and the end of this project may yet have further reverberations leading to the closure of other similar projects

According to Lesueur he was canning the RAT, “because of the misuse of the tool, and unlike so many of you seem to believe, I can be held responsible [for] your actions”.

“If there is one thing I will not tolerate it’s to have to pay the consequences for your mistakes and I will not cover for you,” he said on the software's former homepage.

“The law is how it is and I must abide by the rules, yes it’s unfortunate for developers in security but that’s how it is. And that’s without mentioning what happened in Syria.”

Code clampdowm

He blamed the decision on people that had used the software in breach of its terms, but the move highlights the pressure being put on developers of software that has been used for hacking or other criminal activity.

“While in the past authors of such tools believed that they were immune from prosecution by claiming that they were educational tools, arrests, starting with the alleged author of the infamous Mariposa botnet, have begun to wake up authors of such tools to the possibility that they could be breaking the law,” said security company Symantec in a blog.

“These arrests are sending a message to the authors of such tools that they are not above the law and could face prosecution for their actions,” Symantec said. “The recent arrest of the Blackshades RAT project author and the end of this project may yet have further reverberations leading to the closure of other similar projects.”

The RAT closure won’t prevent people already using it from continuing with the software, but Lesueur said he was providing tools for both removing and scanning for the program.

Yet Lesueur said the decision was hard because the program had legitimate uses, too. “My goals always were to provide access to tools more powerful than any paid-for tool in terms of security and all for free,” he said. “This was for families who wished to keep an eye on their kids, or folks looking into acquiring some experience with such tools and users who wished to keep track on their machine from any place in the world.”