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A teenage hacker created an awful cyber bullying tool - now he's decided to leave his life of cybercrime
A teenage hacker created an awful cyber bullying tool - now he's decided to leave his life of cybercrime
Cale Guthrie WeissmanJun 5, 2015, 03:11 IST
The hacker behind a disturbingly simple dark web malware platform has decided to leave his life of cybercrime behind him. Posted on Pastebin, the unnamed hacker wrote a mini-tome about why he has decided to stop his dark web business.The program he says he crafted was a web-based platform called Tox. Tox built personal ransomware, which are malwares that - when opened - hold files hostage until a bounty is paid. So his service made it possible for the least sophisticated web user to get their own malware with the click of a few buttons.Tox worked by having users perform three easy steps on its website: Input how much they wanted the bounty, any notes they wished to include in the bug, and also write a 'captcha.' Following that, poof a ransomware was born.The users could then take these files and try to plant them on victims' computers. If downloaded, the malware would cause the victims' computers' files to be held hostage. If the victims paid the ransom, the files would be set free. Tox, of course, would take a cut.But this scheme is now coming to a close, according to his Pastebin post.The unnamed hacker admits that he is just not equipped to run a dark web operation selling exploits for cash. He is, in his words, "just a teenager student."He wrote that he got the idea for Tox "in one instant." From there he read up, worked, tested, and then put it online. After about a week it began to take off. First 20 people started using it. That quickly became 40. Then, everyday, it continued to double. "In just one week, the platform counted over one thousand users," he wrote.But it got too big too quickly. "The situation is getting too hot for me to handle," he admitted.So now this anonymous hacker has decided to put his creation up for sale. "I'm selling all this out because even if I didn't, somebody would have developed his own Tox-like version," he explained.If no one buys, in a month he'll release everything, which means that all of the victims' computers will be set free.The hacker didn't list a price for the service, but he did say "with time and resources, this would have become one the greatest viruses ever."For that it's sure to cost a pretty penny.
