Last April, the notorious stolen database marketplace RaidForums was seized by the US authorities, alongside the arrest of its founder Diogo Santos Coelho. And just recently, three more malicious dark web portals were announced to have been seized by the FBI and the DOJ, including IPStress, WeLeakInfo, and OVH-Booter.
These three cybercrime domains are reported to have been trading stolen data of their victims and also offer a hire service for DDoS attacks. The ongoing seizures of these dark web portals came from a joint investigation of international law enforcement authorities against the sites that trade access to stolen databases and attack networks through DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service).
As issued in a press release last May 31, the DOJ explained the three seized domains, including WeLeakInfo offering its clients a searchable database comprised of collected information from approximately 10,000 data breach attacks. The malicious site also allows its users to buy or sell stolen personal data and sells subscriptions for users to access data breach results. On the other hand, IPStress and OVH-Booter were two domains that offer a DDoS-for-hire for their customers.
Upon visiting the dark web portals, visitors will see a banner posted by the FBI to notify them about the seizure of the domains.
Most of the compromised databases from the seized domains include 7 billion indexed records of victims’ names, email addresses, usernames, phone numbers, and passwords for their online user accounts.
Now that the three malicious sites are under the custody of the authorities, their operations are deemed suspended and will be under the US federal government’s control. The press release also highlighted how they have just disrupted another avenue for cybercriminals to propagate website trafficking in stolen databases that target individuals and corporations worldwide.
According to a special agent who is one of those who have handled the case, the seizure of the dark web portals is an example of the FBI and other agencies’ extensive actions in combating widespread cybercriminal activities.
Several federal agencies have contributed to the investigation, including the DOJ, the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Belgium’s Federal Police, and the National Police Corps of the Netherlands.
