Hydra, a popular underground market that trades forged documents, drugs, stolen data, and other illegal fare, has been taken down by German authorities. Hydra has been a popular destination on the Dark Web for trading illicit goods and services, including cyberattacking tools and data stolen in hacking endeavors. German authorities were able to commandeer and take the website offline, underpinning infrastructure including servers. The forces also installed a takedown banner in the place of the once-working website. In addition, the German authorities were able to seize $25 million in funds from the site.
Hydra was a Russian-language platform accessible via the Tor network since at least 2015, with its primary focus on trading illegal narcotics. However, other illegal resources were offered on the site. Elliptic, a security firm, confirmed the seizure. The takedown occurred on April 5 in a series of 88 transactions, according to researchers. Since its inception, Hydra users have reportedly traded roughly $5 billion in Bitcoin.
