DOJ Prosecutes Crypto Dark Markets, Interpol Fights Crypto Mining Malware

An Illinois man pled guilty this week to using the dark web and cryptocurrencies to pedal at least 4.3 million counterfeit Xanax pills throughout the United States between March 2017 and May 2018. The man was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison and ordered to disgorge more than $2.1 million in profits generated from the scheme. Last week in New York, prosecutors arraigned a woman accused of using dark markets to distribute heroin and methamphetamine to customers who paid her in bitcoin.

According to a press release published this week, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), an intergovernmental law enforcement organization, worked with private-sector cybersecurity firms to identify a vulnerability in MikroTik routers that was facilitating massive crypto-jacking campaigns in Southeast Asia. The collaboration, led by INTERPOL, reportedly resulted in a 78 percent decrease in infected devices.