<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
remote	O
access	O
trojan	O
(	O
RAT	O
)	O
developed	O
by	O
Jean-Pierre	O
Lesueur	O
(	O
known	O
as	O
DarkCoderSc	O
)	O
,	O
an	O
independent	O
programmer	O
and	O
computer	O
security	O
coder	O
from	O
France	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
allows	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
system	O
with	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
many	O
features	O
which	O
allows	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
as	O
administrative	O
remote	O
help	O
tool	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
has	O
many	O
features	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
maliciously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
spy	O
on	O
the	O
victims	O
by	O
taking	O
screen	O
captures	O
,	O
key-logging	O
,	O
or	O
password	O
stealing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
was	O
linked	O
to	O
the	O
Syrian	O
conflict	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
RAT	O
was	O
distributed	O
via	O
a	O
"	O
booby-trapped	O
Skype	O
chat	O
message	O
"	O
which	O
consisted	O
of	O
a	O
message	O
with	O
a	O
Facebook	O
icon	O
which	O
was	O
actually	O
an	O
executable	O
file	O
that	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
install	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
was	O
linked	O
to	O
the	O
Syrian	O
regime	O
,	O
Lesueur	O
stopped	O
developing	O
the	O
tool	O
,	O
stating	O
,	O
“	O
I	O
never	O
imagined	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
a	O
government	O
for	O
spying	O
,	O
”	O
he	O
said	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2012	O
Arbos	O
Network	O
company	O
found	O
evidence	O
of	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
being	O
used	O
to	O
target	O
military	O
and	O
gamers	O
by	O
unknown	O
hackers	O
from	O
Africa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
wake	O
of	O
the	O
January	O
7	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
attack	O
on	O
the	O
Charlie	O
Hebdo	O
magazine	O
in	O
Paris	O
,	O
hackers	O
used	O
the	O
"	O
#JeSuisCharlie	O
"	O
slogan	O
to	O
trick	O
people	O
into	O
downloading	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
was	O
disguised	O
as	O
a	O
picture	O
of	O
a	O
newborn	O
baby	O
whose	O
wristband	O
read	O
"	O
Je	O
suis	O
Charlie.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
was	O
spotted	O
within	O
24	O
hours	O
of	O
the	O
attack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
,	O
like	O
many	O
other	O
RATs	O
,	O
uses	O
a	O
reverse-socket	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
uninfected	O
computer	O
with	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
enabling	O
control	O
of	O
infected	O
ones	O
is	O
the	O
client	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
infected	O
systems	O
(	O
without	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
are	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
executes	O
,	O
the	O
server	O
connects	O
to	O
the	O
client	O
and	O
allows	O
the	O
client	O
to	O
control	O
and	O
monitor	O
the	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
point	O
the	O
client	O
can	O
use	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
which	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
contains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
socket	B-Protocol
is	O
opened	O
on	O
the	O
server	O
and	O
waits	O
to	O
receive	O
packets	O
from	O
the	O
controller	O
,	O
and	O
executes	O
the	O
commands	O
when	O
received	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
list	O
of	O
features	O
is	O
not	O
exhaustive	O
but	O
are	O
the	O
critical	O
ones	O
that	O
make	O
DarkComet	B-Protocol
a	O
dangerous	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
also	O
has	O
some	O
"	O
Fun	O
Features	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DarkComet	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
widely	O
known	O
piece	O
of	O
malware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
user	O
installs	O
an	O
antivirus	B-Application
,	O
or	O
a	O
darkcomet	B-Protocol
remover	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
un-infect	O
their	O
computer	O
quickly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
target	O
machines	O
are	O
typically	O
anything	O
from	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
all	O
the	O
way	O
up	O
to	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
anti-virus	B-Application
tags	O
for	O
a	O
dark	B-Protocol
comet	I-Protocol
application	O
are	O
as	O
follow	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
computer	O
is	O
infected	O
,	O
it	O
tries	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
connection	O
via	O
socket	B-Protocol
to	O
the	O
controllers	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
