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> Investigators say that while the forum's existence was widely known, they hadn't been able to penetrate it until recently. Darkode operated under password pro

> Investigators say that while the forum's existence was widely known, they hadn't been able to penetrate it until recently. Darkode operated under password protections and required referrals to join. On Wednesday, the site consisted of an image saying that it had been seized by authorities. > The arrests come after a two-year FBI undercover operation that infiltrated the forum, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott S. Smith. Wednesday's announcement reflects work in countries that range from Brazil and Costa Rica to Latvia and Macedonia, the Justice Department says. For various meanings of the term "Recently". So they've been trying to get in for 2 years and only just now got in, by pretending to be from Latvia?

wernercd 11y ago
Where did you read they pretended to be from Latvia? They worked in multiple countries, including Latvia.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  In lieu of details, I assumed this from the article details. Are you saying that they also pretended to be Macedonians?
  - nyolfen 11y ago
    they probably had a partner agency bust someone in one or more of those countries and flipped them
    - stephengillie 11y ago
      So you're saying that they couldn't even get in on their own? They had to find someone with what I'll call a "legitimate reason" for connecting to the darkforum, and had to sneak in that way?
      - celticninja 11y ago
        Yes it would seem that way. Check out the top comment, it has a quite where it looks like they turned someone in January and someone else in June. So the first was the person who got them onto the board, probably just a user\low level carder, the second was likely an admin with more privileges, perhaps even access to PMs. Once they had the admin they were able to close it all down.
        stephengillie 11y ago
        Where are you seeing that? The top comment is the dumb one about hornets.
        celticninja 11y ago
        Ctrl+f junto The really interesting part is the last paragraph: In a related case, Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, aka Gribodemon, 26, of Tver, Russia; and Hamza Bendelladj, aka Bx1, 27, of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2014, and June 26, 2015, respectively, in the Northern District of Georgia in connection with developing, distributing and controlling SpyEye, a malicious banking trojan designed to steal unsuspecting victims' financial and personally identifiable information. Bendelladj and Panin advertised SpyEye to other members on Darkode. Note that they were arrested in Georgia. Do they mean the country of Georgia, enemy of the Russians and friend of the US? Or do they mean the state of Georgia in the US? Either way, the US has them in custody, which suggests an arrest on US soil (come visit the US trap style) or a foreign arrest and extradition. I'm guessing by the tone of that last paragraph that this is how the FBI got in. They flipped them and offered them a pkea bargain. We'll find out at sentencing.
yuncun 11y ago
That would be pretty hilarious if they just spent two years trying to get an invite (but I dont think that's the case).
- stephengillie 11y ago
  It's hard to believe otherwise from the details in the article.
stevenh 11y ago
Replacing the site with a takedown image seems almost comically stupid. Why announce it to anyone? Why not keep the site running indefinitely under your own control to track and catch the people who continue to use it?
- draugadrotten 11y ago
  They did run it for a while but now ran out of funds and have 100+ other websites running which are catching more fish. Do you really think they don't run traps?

wernercd 11y ago

Where did you read they pretended to be from Latvia? They worked in multiple countries, including Latvia.

stephengillie 11y ago
In lieu of details, I assumed this from the article details. Are you saying that they also pretended to be Macedonians?
- nyolfen 11y ago
  they probably had a partner agency bust someone in one or more of those countries and flipped them
  - stephengillie 11y ago
    So you're saying that they couldn't even get in on their own? They had to find someone with what I'll call a "legitimate reason" for connecting to the darkforum, and had to sneak in that way?
    - celticninja 11y ago
      Yes it would seem that way. Check out the top comment, it has a quite where it looks like they turned someone in January and someone else in June. So the first was the person who got them onto the board, probably just a user\low level carder, the second was likely an admin with more privileges, perhaps even access to PMs. Once they had the admin they were able to close it all down.
      - stephengillie 11y ago
        Where are you seeing that? The top comment is the dumb one about hornets.
        celticninja 11y ago
        Ctrl+f junto The really interesting part is the last paragraph: In a related case, Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, aka Gribodemon, 26, of Tver, Russia; and Hamza Bendelladj, aka Bx1, 27, of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2014, and June 26, 2015, respectively, in the Northern District of Georgia in connection with developing, distributing and controlling SpyEye, a malicious banking trojan designed to steal unsuspecting victims' financial and personally identifiable information. Bendelladj and Panin advertised SpyEye to other members on Darkode. Note that they were arrested in Georgia. Do they mean the country of Georgia, enemy of the Russians and friend of the US? Or do they mean the state of Georgia in the US? Either way, the US has them in custody, which suggests an arrest on US soil (come visit the US trap style) or a foreign arrest and extradition. I'm guessing by the tone of that last paragraph that this is how the FBI got in. They flipped them and offered them a pkea bargain. We'll find out at sentencing.

yuncun 11y ago

That would be pretty hilarious if they just spent two years trying to get an invite (but I dont think that's the case).

stephengillie 11y ago
It's hard to believe otherwise from the details in the article.

stevenh 11y ago

Replacing the site with a takedown image seems almost comically stupid. Why announce it to anyone? Why not keep the site running indefinitely under your own control to track and catch the people who continue to use it?

draugadrotten 11y ago
They did run it for a while but now ran out of funds and have 100+ other websites running which are catching more fish. Do you really think they don't run traps?