Hacker arrested for spying and downloading indecent children images

UK hacker jailed for illegally spying on multiple victims, including children by using cybercrime tools

Software engineer turned hacker kept a stash of indecent images which included adults and children

A bunch of cyber tools for spying got used in a hacking campaign held by the 32-year-old man from Nottingham. Robert Davies managed to break into computers and phones of victims and spy on them, obtain indecent images.^[1] Various tools were purchased back in 2019, and RATs, crypters, remote access applications with the backdoor, and data exfiltration functions helped the criminal access private data and collect surveillance.

The criminal spied on women and children and collected a good amount of private and indecent images. Microphones and cameras helped the hacker to collect information. The usage of these tools attracted the National Crime Agency team, so the software engineer got jailed for two years and two months after law enforcement managed to prove that man hacked into a schoolgirls' webcam, secretly filming her in the shower and while undressing.^[2]

This perverted hacker also created fake Skype profiles to catfish^[3] victims online and encourage them to perform sex acts. Researchers revealed all the techniques and tools used by the hacker over the years.^[4] The investigation also showed threat actor attempts to make a profit from stolen data:

He was also identified as a customer of weleakinfo, an online market place selling stolen credentials, which was taken offline last year following an NCA-led investigation.

Thirty victims, including women, men, and children

Davies's campaigns involved creating false accounts on social media, catfishing potential targets, and using messaging applications to leverage the online encounters to send malicious links. Those links redirected to malware-laced pages via chats and started the infections. Malware managed to evade antivirus detection due to the help of previously purchased crypters.

Using emote access trojans and malware with such functions The cyber voyeurism attack included at least 30 victims that got identified during the investigation. He spent two years befriending the 11-year-old girl before hacking into her computer and spying on the minor via webcam.

Officials say that 27 compromising images and videos of children were found on his computer. The site that Davies also was discovered to use for profiting from gathered information was disrupted in January 2020. Later, the NCA arrested individuals that tried to use the stolen credentials to personal accounts for cyberfraud.^[5]

Catfishing and fake presence online leading to crime

The software engineer managed to carry out his spying campaign for a number of years. The perverted hacker was arrested three times between November 2019 and August 2021. He was charged with other offenses while the investigation analyzed his devices. Then his cybercrime tool purchases came to the attention of the National Crime Agency, and officers managed to determine the scale of his crimes.

On September second, a man pleaded guilty to 24 offenses related to computer misuse, possession of indecent images of children, making and possessing pornographic images. He was sentenced a few days ago to 26 months in prison. The hacker was also placed on the sex offenders' register. Five of the victims have a 10-year restraining order against him.

These operations are disturbing because the criminal not only spied on people, including children, but the collection of images with victims was obtained and made. It was the result of catfishing. This is, unfortunately, remarkably easy and emotional; these hackers can use psychological manipulation.

Even the right software cannot help to mitigate this sort of abuse fully, so it is crucial to know how to spot the manipulative behavior. Parents should share the best practices and teach children about necessary steps to stop these activities from occurring again.