A leading dark web marketplace, Solaris, has been hit by a rival, according to cryptanalysis firm Elliptic. The Russia-linked platform, which tried to occupy the space vacated by the dismantled Hydra, is believed to have captured up to a fifth of the illicit market before the attack.
Solaris allegedly taken over by Darknet Marketplace called Kraken
Solaris, a major marketplace for drugs and other illicit products, has been the target of a hacking attack carried out by a similar company, Kraken, not to be confused with the well-known cryptocurrency exchange of the same name.
After the police authorities shut down Hydra, the former leader in this business, seized its servers in Germany and arrested an alleged operator in Russia in April last year, Solaris managed to gain a 20-25% stake in market, according to estimates cited by Elliptic.
This week, the blockchain forensics company reported that as of Friday, January 13, those who visited the onion site were transferred to Kraken. The latter claimed to have taken control of the Solaris infrastructure, Gitlab repository and source code and blocked their bitcoin wallets.
Kraken is another player in the dark web space, and like Solaris and Hydra, it targets the Russian-language segment of the underground market. The illegal trading platforms are also suspected of having other ties to Russia.
For example, it is believed that Solaris used the services of one of the Russian “patriotic” hacker groups. Pro-Kremlin Killnet is known for launching Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS ) attacks against Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in late February 2022.
This is not the first attempt to break into Solaris. Ukrainian-born cyberintelligence expert Alex Holden claimed to have hacked into the marketplace, according to a December report, and seized some of the bitcoins sent to merchants using the site and its owners.
With the help of his cybersecurity company, Holden said he specifically targeted a wallet used for cryptocurrency exchange transactions and was able to divert 1.6 BTC. The cryptocurrency was later donated to a Kyiv-based charity.
What do you think of Kraken’s hacking attack on the darknet market against its rival Solaris? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
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