Pierluigi Paganini
January 18, 2018
The Briton Goncalo Esteves (24) has pleaded guilty to charges related to creating and running malware services.
Such kind of platforms allows crooks to improve the development of their malicious codes. The malware created with the Esteves’ malware services would not be detected by antivirus software.
Esteves that was used the moniker ‘KillaMuvz’ is the creator of Cryptex tool commonly used by vxers to encrypt their files in an effort to avoid the detection. The first version of Cryptex was released in October 2011 and was continuously improved.
According to the NCA, Esteves has pleaded guilty to two computer misuse charges and one count of money laundering, the sentence is planned for February 12.
“A cyber criminal has admitted running a product-testing service for hackers following a joint investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and cyber security firm Trend Micro.
Goncalo Esteves, 24, of Cape Close, Colchester, Essex, ran the website reFUD.me, which allowed offenders to test, for a fee, whether their malicious cyber tools could beat anti-virus scanners.” reads the announcement published by the NCA.
“Under the pseudonym KillaMuvz, he also sold custom-made malware-disguising products and offered technical support to users.
He pleaded guilty to two computer misuse offences and a count of money laundering at Blackfriars Crown Court.”
Cryptex Reborn allowed vxers to encrypt the malware files in an effort to make them “Fully UnDetectable” (FUD).
Esteves sold Crypters for use in packages which varied in price according to the length of the licence. A month of Cryptex Lite cost $7.99 ( about £5 at the time of offending) while a lifetime licence for Cryptex Reborn cost $90 (about £60). The man also provided customer support via a dedicated Skype account and accepted payment either in conventional currency, in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin or in Amazon vouchers.
One of Esteves’ services was a website called reFUD.me that was launched in February 2015. It has been observed that the service was used to conduct at least 1.2 million scans.
An investigation conducted by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) with the help of Trend Micro resulted in the arrest of Esteves and a woman.
Law enforcement shut down both service after the arrest, Esteves always denied that the software was created for malicious purposes.
According to the NCA, Esteves has pleaded guilty to two computer misuse charges and one count of money laundering, the sentence is planned for February 12.
“A cyber criminal has admitted running a product-testing service for hackers following a joint investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and cyber security firm Trend Micro.
Goncalo Esteves, 24, of Cape Close, Colchester, Essex, ran the website reFUD.me, which allowed offenders to test, for a fee, whether their malicious cyber tools could beat anti-virus scanners.” reads the announcement published by the NCA.
“Under the pseudonym KillaMuvz, he also sold custom-made malware-disguising products and offered technical support to users.
He pleaded guilty to two computer misuse offences and a count of money laundering at Blackfriars Crown Court.”
Esteves advertised his service on the hackforums.net website, a well-known crime messageboard.
“A free service that offers fast and reliable file scanning to ensure that your files remain fully undetectable to anti-malware software.” reads the ad.
The NCA reported that Esteves made £32,000 from more than 800 Paypal transactions between 2011 and 2015.
There are no other information about the transactions made in Bitcoins and using Amazon vouchers.
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(Security Affairs –Malware services, cybercrime)
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