German Police Take Down a Russia’s Large Dark Web Hydra

According to a report by BBC News on April 6, German police have taken down the Hydra website of Russia, the world’s largest dark web, after several months of efforts.

Launched in 2015 and written in Russian, the site has 17 million registered customers and more than 19,000 seller accounts. Specializing in the same-day “airdrop” service, drug dealers hide drugs in public places before notifying customers of where to pick up the goods. Hacking documents, counterfeiting documents and illegal digital services, cybercriminals also use bitcoin to launder stolen or extorted digital currency.

German police said that after several months of investigation after receiving the report, they found the company hosting Hydra in Germany, the “bullet-proof hosting” company. They were shocked by the Russian dark web and confiscated it. €23m (£16.7m) in bitcoin.

The site, a bastion of cybercrime, has survived for more than six years by selling drugs and illicit merchandise. Shortly after Germany announced its action, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Hydra “to coordinate international efforts to stop the proliferation of malicious web services, dangerous drugs and other illegal products offered through Russian websites.” Now, if users log in to the website, they can see a police announcement on the website’s home page that “this platform has been seized for criminal conduct.”