Legal Wonk Cybercrime Roundup: International Takedown of Two Online Illicit Marketplaces

[Razer]

Don't troll me #$%$&@!

..

> Purportedly a guide to accessing and safely using AlphaBay,
> Alphabaymarket.com provides tips to help AlphaBay users protect their
> anonymity. Those tips include the following:
>
> [image]
>
> If Alexandre Cazes, the alleged owner and operator of AlphaBay, had
> taken those steps seriously, his own anonymity might still be intact.
>
> Cazes’ mistakes involved his use of several different online
> identifiers on both AlphaBay and elsewhere on the web: the monikers
> “Alpha02” and “Admin,” the email “Pimp_Alex_91 at hotmail.com,” and a
> company called EBX Technologies (EBX Tech). By using several of these
> identifiers on other sites outside AlphaBay, he left a trail of
> breadcrumbs to his true identity.

.

.

.

> Once AlphaBay was shut down on July 5th, users, in the words of Acting
> Director McCabe “flocked” to another online illicit marketplace—Hansa.
> According to a Europol press release, Hansa saw an eightfold increase
> of new members after AlphaBay went down. Unbeknownst to the users,
> however, the Dutch National Police had covertly taken control of Hansa
> since June 20, 2017. This allowed for collection of intelligence not
> only on Hansa users but also on those who were driven from AlphaBay.
> From the Europol press release, it appears not only that significant
> intelligence was collected but also that it was shared with the
> international coalition that  coordinated to produce this
> unprecedented double takedown.
>
>  
>
> Looking Ahead
>
> This takedown can be read as touching several of the Department of
> Justice’s priorities. First, it has consistently emphasized the
> importance of taking down criminal computer networks and their
> operators...
>
> In full with links:
> https://lawfareblog.com/cybercrime-roundup-international-takedown-two-online-illicit-marketplaces