Notorious Cybercrime Underground Forum Infiltrated By FBI And Shut Down

One of the most infamous and exclusive underground international cybercrime forums was infiltrated and shut down by international law enforcement agencies, resulting in charges, arrests, and searches of 70 members of this illegal meeting place for buying and selling malware, botnets, stolen personal information, credit cards, credentials, and software used for hacking organizations and individuals worldwide.

The so-called Darkode forum, which was password-protected and open only to accepted members, was the focus of a US Department of Justice and FBI effort code-named Operation Shrouded Horizon, with the help of law enforcement and others from 19 other nations, including the UK, Germany, Brazil, Latvia, Romania, Nigeria, and Israel. FBI agents had infiltrated the forum, ultimately leading to indictments of 12 people associated with the forum--including its administrator--and seizure of its domain and servers. There were some 300 members of Darkode.

The FBI today said this is is the largest coordinated law enforcement effort to take down a cybercrime forum ever. For more details on the Darkode takedown, read this FBI announcement.