Security News > 2022 > April > Feds slay dark-web souk Hydra: Servers and $25m in crypto-coins seized

First, German federal police in coordination with US law enforcement seized Hydra servers and cryptocurrency wallets containing $25 million in Bitcoin, thus shutting down the online souk.

Later on Tuesday, the US Justice Department announced criminal charges against one of the alleged Hydra operators and system administrators, 30-year-old Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov of Russia.

Hydra operates like any legitimate online marketplace with vendors creating accounts to advertise and selling their products and services, and buyers setting up accounts to view and purchase said products.

Criminal charges against Pavlov, filed in a San Francisco court, include conspiracy to distribute narcotics and conspiracy to commit money laundering related to his involvement with Hydra [PDF].

Since about November 2015, Pavlov ran a web hosting provider in Russia called Promservice that managed "Dozens" of servers that formed the online infrastructure of Hydra, the court documents allege.

By providing servers and networking infrastructure that "Allowed Hydra to operate and thrive" on the dark web, Pavlov helped the illicit marketplace "Reap commissions worth millions of dollars," it stated.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/04/05/us_germany_hydra/