In a massive operation that covered four continents and involved a number of law enforcement agencies, 100 people have been arrested owing to their use of a "remote administration tool" called Blackshades. The FBI-led operation saw raids throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. This comes in the wake of a similar operation in 2012 that had resulted in 20 arrests, including the tool's alleged leader coder, Michael Hogue. Despite Hogue's arrest, Symantec still reported a rise in Blackshades-related attacks and infections through 2013.

Blackshades is a backdoor hacking tool that allows attackers to remotely control computers. Through Blackshades, personal data can easily be stolen, this including passwords and banking information. While the software itself is not illegal (going at $40), hackers can still be arrested on the charge of installing it on an unknowing victim's computer.