|
 The developments were announced a day after prosecutors in New York
unveiled criminal charges against the alleged operator of
underground online drug marketplace Silk Road 2.0.
U.S. authorities called the global sweep the largest law enforcement
action to date against illegal websites operating on the so-called
Tor network, which lets users communicate anonymously by masking
their IP addresses.
Tor, which was created by U.S. Navy researchers to protect the
anonymity of national security communications, is used by human
rights activists, criminals and others looking to evade
surveillance.
Europol, in a statement, said U.S. and European cyber crime units,
in a sweep across 18 countries, had netted $1 million worth of
Bitcoin, the digital currency, 180,000 euros in cash, silver, gold
and narcotics.
The more than 400 websites and domains seized on Thursday existed on
the Tor network and were used by dozens of online marketplaces where
such things as child pornography, guns and murder-for-hire could be
purchased, authorities said.
Sixteen people operating illegal sites were arrested in addition to
the defendant in the Silk Road 2.0 case, Europol added, without
specifying the charges.
"As illegal activity online becomes more prevalent, criminals can no
longer expect that they can hide in the shadows of the 'dark web,'"
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
On Thursday, U.S. authorities said they had shut down Silk Road 2.0,
a successor website to underground online drugs marketplace Silk
Road.
[to top of second column] |
Blake Benthall, the alleged operator of Silk Road 2.0, was arrested
and charged with conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, computer
hacking, money laundering and other crimes.
Troels Oerting, head of Europol's cybercrime center, said the
operation knocked out a significant part of the infrastructure for
illegal online drugs and weapons trade in the countries involved.
"We have also hit services on the Darknet using Tor where, for a
long time, criminals have considered themselves beyond reach," he
said. "We can now show that they are neither invisible nor
untouchable."
The websites had complete business models, Oerting said, and
displayed what they sold, including drugs, weapons, stolen credit
cards.
"People paid, and they delivered by the mailman," Oerting said.
"There was even a ranking system for reliable suppliers."
(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch and Nate Raymond; Editing by Susan
Fenton and Steve Orlofsky)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
