German police shut down dark web marketplace Kingdom Market

By Duncan Riley for SiliconANGLE
Thursday, December 21, 2023

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Although the Kingdom Market dark web marketplace has been taken offline, other forums will take its place. It’s also conceivable that the takedown may only be temporary: Similar forums have risen from the dead before after supposedly being taken offline in law enforcement operations.

“While we should applaud this cross-border and multiagency operation, the modern-day disruption of cybercrime’s infrastructure and even arrests of some identifiable cyber gang’s members is rarely sufficient,” Dr. Ilia Kolochenko, chief executive officer and chief architect at security company ImmuniWeb SA and adjunct professor of cybersecurity and cyber law at Capital Technology University, told SiliconANGLE.

“For example, a considerable number of seized hacking forums or marketplaces resurrect almost intact a few weeks after the seizure under a similar or new identity,” Kolochenko explained. “Illicit trade continues, while new admins and operators of underground resources take even better precautions to hinder investigations by law enforcement.”

Kolochenko added that amid the global geopolitical uncertainty, many cybercrime groups safely operate with impunity from jurisdictions from which they can’t be extradited. “Without a global convention against cybercrime that would be ratified by the vast majority of United Nations member states, for example, battle against organized cybercrime will resemble fighting a hydra: You cut off one head, two grow back in its place,” he said. Read Full Article