Major Russian dark web marketplace taken down by US, Germany

ZDNet reports that the U.S. Department of Justice and German federal police have successfully shut down the Russian dark web marketplace Hydra, which has contributed to nearly 80% of all dark web market-related cryptocurrency transactions last year. Authorities have taken over not only Hydra's servers but also cryptocurrency wallets with $25 million in bitcoin. "The successful seizure of Hydra, the world's largest darknet marketplace, dismantled digital infrastructures which had enabled a wide range of criminals -- including Russian cybercriminals, the cryptocurrency tumblers, and money launderers that support them and others, and drug traffickers," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. Moreover, suspected Hydra server administrator Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov has been charged by the Justice Department for conspiracy to commit money laundering in association with Hydra, as well as conspiracy to distribute narcotics. The DOJ has also seized $34 million in cryptocurrency from a Florida man who was apprehended for his involvement in dark web transactions a day before Hydra was shut down.