The FBI, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Dutch National Police, and Europol announced the takedown of AlphaBay and Hansa, two of the largest criminal marketplaces on the dark web.
What happened
- AlphaBay was said to have served more than 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors, with over 350,000 listings for drugs, stolen data, malware, and other illicit goods.
- Its alleged founder, Alexandre Cazes, was arrested in Thailand on 5 July 2017 and died in custody a week later.
- Dutch police had secretly taken over Hansa and ran it for about a month, gathering information on users, including those who moved there after AlphaBay closed.
- Law enforcement agencies from several countries, including the UK, took part.
Why it mattered
The operation was one of the most significant blows to dark web crime at the time, and the covert takeover of Hansa undermined trust in such markets.
Lessons for organisations
Stolen credentials and data often end up on criminal marketplaces. Monitoring for exposed company data and responding quickly to credential leaks should be part of every threat intelligence programme.
Source: US Department of Justice
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