The first hacker to face court following the arrest of 12 people in relation to the notorious cybercrime forum Darkode has pleaded guilty to a sole charge laid under the CAN-SPAM Act.

39-year old Eric Crocker, of Binghamton, New York, who used the name “Phastman” on the site, was alleged along with others to have used the hacking tools Facebook Spreader and Slenfbot to access at least 77,000 computers used by Facebook users.

According to a post on Reddit, the malware tool worked by using infected people’s accounts to send all their friends a file to download, with that file automatically executing upon clicking it, causing the newly infected computer to then repeat the same action.

According to Reuters, Crocker and other Darkode hackers would then sell access to affected computers to people seeking to send out commercial messages, and were periodically paid between $200 and $300 for every 10,000 active computer infections.

One down

The guilty plea will come as a relief for Federal prosecutors who while confident in the various cases against the 12 men arrested, still faced serious work in sealing the convictions due to the complexity of the cases involved given their highly technical nature.

Prior to its original closure (a successor version is currently either planned or up and running), Darkode ran as an invite-only site that operated on “tiers of membership based on knowledge, skill [and] illegal activity” according to the Department of Justice,.

The site ran for around three years as a meeting place for more elite hackers where those people could discuss the darker arts of hacking, as well as also able to sell software and related tools.

“The FBI has effectively smashed the hornets’ nest, and we are in the process of rounding up and charging the hornets,” said United States Attorney David Hickton said at a press conference at the time.

Crocker faces up to three years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both when he appears at his sentencing hearing November 23rd.

The other 11 Darkode suspects are still facing a variety of different charges in courts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, District of Columbia and Louisiana in the coming months.

Image credit: DOJ/public domain