Global operation takes down hackers’ leaked data market
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Western law enforcement agencies have dismantled an online marketplace used to buy and sell hacked and stolen personal data belonging to millions of people, and have charged the platform’s founder and chief administrator. That’s according to announcements Tuesday from officials in the United States and Europe. Authorities say the RaidForums website trafficked in hundreds of databases of sensitive data, including credit card and Social Security numbers and bank account information, that had been hacked or stolen from victims. In addition to seizing three domains that hosted the website, officials have also arrested 21-year-old Diogo Santos Coelho of Portugal, who prosecutors say controlled and administered the platform.