US and international law enforcement agencies have shut down the online password-protected computer hacking forum, Darkode.
Hackers and other cyber-criminals used Darkode to buy, sell, trade and share data, ideas, and tools for hacking computer networks and devices.
In order to become a Darkode member, one would have to be invited by an existing member and demonstrate skills as well as products that would benefit the group in infecting computers and electronic devices of victims across the world.
The US charged 12 defendants in connection with computer fraud conspiracy as part of a coordinated effort by a coalition of law enforcement authorities from 20 countries.
Another 28 people are reported to have been arrested in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and other countries.
It brings the total number of people arrested for suspected offences connected to Darkode to 70.
US Attorney David Hickton said: "Of the roughly 800 criminal Internet forums worldwide, Darkode represented one of the gravest threats to the integrity of data on computers in the United States and around the world and was the most sophisticated English-speaking forum for criminal computer hackers in the world.
"Through this operation, we have dismantled a cyber hornets’ nest of criminal hackers which was believed by many, including the hackers themselves, to be impenetrable."
