Hacker site Darkode shut down, several arrested
July 15, 2015
Darkode, a notorious online forum used by cybercriminals to trade stolen data, including credit card information, was shut down on Tuesday.
The FBI, Europol and several other law enforcement agencies took part in the global crackdown that saw dozens of people arrested or searched.
The swoop followed a two-year undercover operation that infiltrated the forum, said US authorities.
The US justice department said 70 Darkode members and associates are being investigated.
Those targeted live in the United States, Britain, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia and Sweden.
The site's main administrator, Johan Anders Gudmunds from Sweden, who is also known as Synthet!c, was among those charged.
Virtual hacking crossroads
Darkode was the largest-known English language malware forum with as many as 300 active members, who bought and sold malware as well as personal information, which is often used in identity theft and computer fraud schemes.
The site was hosted on well-protected Web servers and access was by invitation only. New members had to be nominated by current forumers to get access to the secret marketplace of hacking and spamming tools and services. The FBI said the services were available in several languages.
The swoop comes a month after the White House asked Congress to devise new laws to protect better against hacking.
The site was taken offline as part of "Operation Shrouded Horizon" and now displays a notice from the FBI. US authorities say it was the largest coordinated international law enforcement effort aimed at a cybercriminal forum.
US Attorney David Hickton described Darkode - which was established in 2007 - as a "cyber hornet's nest of criminal hackers," adding that a further 800 criminal internet forums still exist.
The FBI says their investigation is continuing.
mm/jil (AP, Reuters)