Operation Shrouded Horizon

The message displayed on the homepage of Darkode upon its domain being seized

Operation Shrouded Horizon was an 18-month international law enforcement investigation culminating in the July 2015 seizure of Darkode, an online cybercrime forum and black market, and the arrest of several of its members. The case involved law enforcement agencies from 20 countries, led by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with the assistance of Europol, in what the FBI called "the largest-ever coordinated law enforcement effort directed at an online cyber criminal forum".^[1][2][3]

Law enforcement agents gained access to the invite-only website through undisclosed means and collected information over an extended period, leading to equipment seizures, searches, or arrests of 70 individuals globally, leading to indictments against 12 for crimes including computer fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to send malicious code, spamming, identity theft, racketeering, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, extortion, and conspiracy to commit access device fraud.^{[1][4][3][5][6][7]} Among those arrested were administrators for darknet market TheRealDeal, who were also active at Darkode.^[8]

Upon announcing the charges, United States Attorney David Hickton called the site "a cyber hornet's nest of criminal hackers" which "represented one of the gravest threats to the integrity of data on computers in the United States".^{[9][4][2][10]}

Map of the 20 countries which provided law enforcement assistance during Operation Shrouded Horizon

Though led by the FBI and assisted by Europol, reports credit agencies in 20 countries: Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.^[3][11]

Only two weeks after the announcement of the raid, the site reappeared with increased security, employing Bitcoin-based blockchain authentication and operating on the Tor anonymity network.^{[12][13][14][15]}

References

1. "Cyber Criminal Forum Taken Down". FBI.gov. 15 July 2015.
2. "Major Computer Hacking Forum Dismantled". The United States Department of Justice. 15 July 2015.
3. Stevenson, Alastair (16 July 2015). "All the details about the FBI's Darknode takedown in 6 easy facts". Business Insider.
4. Buncombe, August (15 July 2015). "Darkode: FBI shuts down notorious online forum and cracks 'cyber hornet's nest of criminal hackers'". The Independent.
5. "Darkode: Computer hacking forum dismantled; 12 people charged, US authorities say". ABC. 16 July 2015.
6. Pauli, Darren (16 July 2015). "FireEye intern nailed in Darkode downfall was VXer, say the Feds". The Register.
7. Stevenson, Alastair (16 July 2015). "These are the 3 scariest alleged Darkode hackers arrested during the FBI's 'Operation Shrouded Horizon'". Business Insider.
8. Cox, Joseph (29 July 2015). "The Mysterious Disappearance, and Reappearance, of a Dark Web Hacker Market". Retrieved 31 July 2015.
9. Trott, Bill (15 July 2015). "U.S. says computer hacking forum Darkode dismantled, 12 charged". Reuters.
10. "Darkode cybercriminal hacker marketplace shut down". CBC News. Associated Press. 15 July 2015.
11. "Cybercriminal Darkode Forum Taken Down Through Global Action". Europol. 15 July 2015.
12. Pauli, Darren (28 July 2015). "Cybercrime forum Darkode returns with security, admins intact". The Register.
13. Clark, Lian (28 July 2015). "Hacker forum Darkode is back and more secure than ever". Wired.
14. Kovacs, Eduard (28 July 2015). "Hacking Forum Darkode Resurfaces". Security Week.
15. Stevenson, Alastair (28 July 2015). "It only took 2 weeks for the world's most dangerous hacking forum to get back online after the FBI shut it down". Business Insider.