Ottawa-Gatineau: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer has issued a penalty of $100,000 to John Paul Revesz and Vincent Leo Griebel, partners operating under the business name Orcus Technologies, for developing, selling and promoting malware.
An additional penalty of $15,000 was issued to John Paul Revesz for operating a secure dynamic domain name service that was allegedly used by hackers to communicate with a variety of infected machines, said a CRTC statement.
The investigation found that Orcus Technologies marketed and sold a Remote Administration Tool under the name Orcus RAT. The investigation concluded that this tool was in fact malware, a Remote Access Trojan that enabled hackers to install the program and take full control of a victim’s computer without their consent or knowledge. By marketing and offering these products and services, Revesz and Griebel aided in the commission of numerous violations of Canada’s anti-spam legislation.
“We are pursuing our efforts to intervene in online threats that compromise Canadians’ personal information and disrupt their online activities. By working closely with our partners, we were able to take down this cyber threat. I’d like to thank the RCMP National Division and the threat researchers at Palo Alto Networks for their collaboration and assistance,” Steven Harroun, Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, CRTC.
Quick Facts
Remote Administrative Tools (RATs) are a particularly dangerous type of malware that allows an individual to install and take full administrative control of another person’s system through a remote network connection without their consent or knowledge.
It is estimated that Orcus RAT malware has infected thousands of computers worldwide.
To protect their devices and networks, Canadians should ensure they are using the latest supported versions, applying security patches promptly, using antivirus and scanning regularly to guard against known malware threats.
The CRTC collaborated closely with domestic and international partners – including investigators within the RCMP, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) – to successfully conclude this case. The cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks provided critical information to assist the CRTC in its investigation.