The FBI coordinated with law enforcement agencies in 19 other countries and arrested over 100 hackers all over the world in connection with an ongoing investigation into a malware program called "BlackShades," which is a type of Remote Access Tool or RAT.

In an interview with TIME magazine, FBI officials said that over a dozen nations were raided during the hunt for computer hackers. Law enforcement agencies in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, the U.K., Finland, Austria, Estonia, Denmark, the U.S., Canada, Chile, Croatia, Italy, Moldova, and Switzerland participated in this endeavor. Seventeen people were were arrested in Britain, as reported by the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom.

With BlackShades, a hacker can casually access and control a computer on which he has installed the program. This privilege enables hackers to remotely activate webcams, steal passwords, obtain personal data, record keystrokes, and encrypt files so that they can't be opened by the computer's owner.

The software is legal in most countries and costs as little as $40. However, since installation of the software on somebody's computer or laptop without their consent is possible, the software enables a particularly devious type of hacking. The FBI said that sales of the program have netted about $350,000 since 2010.

Over 20 people were arrested by the FBI during a related cooperative operation in 2012. The arrested people included suspected BlackShades developer Michael Hogue. Michael Hogue uses the pseudonym xVisceral. Symantec researchers, however, found more infected computers and laptops in spite of the capture of these hackers back in 2013. Troy Gill, an AppRiver senior security analyst, believes that there is a connection between this latest capture of hackers and Hogue. He said, "Even though these busts have come a little later than might be expected, it is not inconceivable to think that information or access gleaned in the author's arrest could have been instrumental in facilitating this coordinated effort."

On Monday, the FBI unsealed an indictment formally charging Hogue and Swedish national Alex Yucel with developing the program and charging three others for selling or using it illegally.