Hydra Market, a major marketplace on the dark web, has been taken down as part of an international police operation.

Site servers were seized by German police during the operation, along with €23 million (£19m) in Bitcoin.

The Russia-based portal has been described as the world’s largest darknet market.

Across the site’s six-year history, Hydra has sold a variety of illicit goods, such as illegal or counterfeit drugs, forged documents, and tools to help launder stolen or laundered cryptocurrencies. The site had over 19,000 seller accounts and 17m customer accounts, with German federal police saying sales amounted to €1.23 billion euros in 2020.

Its vendors were reported to use a dead-drop system, hiding orders in public places before informing buyers of their location.

While written in Russian and hosting many sellers from across Russia and other post-Soviet nations, a tip-off led police to believe some of its infrastructure may be located in Germany.

After several months of investigation, a German-based company hosting the site was located and a takedown notice issued. While Hydra may have servers in other locations to keep it on the dark web, police believe that they have located the main hub of the market.

Suspects are now being investigated, the site sports a message saying that the platform has been seized.

In addition to the German-led police operation, the site was sanctioned by the US Treasury.

“Our actions send a message today to criminals that you cannot hide on the darknet or their forums, and you cannot hide in Russia or anywhere else in the world. In coordination with allies and partners, like Germany and Estonia, we will continue to disrupt these networks,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen in a statement.

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The cybercrime ecosystem is huge and varied. Recent research suggests that the cybercrime brings in $1.5 trillion per year from multiple sources, such as counterfeit goods, drugs, extortion, and even selling tools and training to burgeoning hackers.

Hacking tools were found on dark web marketplaces for as little as $50. Tailored to target specific industries, these allowed anyone with even a little hacking knowledge to pose a threat to businesses and other organisations.

These proceedings are then invested back into the cybercrime ecosystem, funding ransomware attacks, even terrorism.

Like the mythological hydra, the cybercrime ecosystem has proven notoriously resilient. Removing one threat frequently results in another taking its place. And in many cases, destroying a threat entirely is easier said than done.

Take Emotet as an example. Back in January 2021, it was disrupted as part of a major police operation. With its infrastructure in the hands of law enforcement, they deleted it from the internet in April, seemingly removing it altogether.

But in its place, a similar botnet, Trickbot, quickly grew in prominence to fill its place.

And by November, Emotet infections had begun to surface, reaching around 50% of its pre-takedown volume by the end of the year.

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