The FBI shuts down Deer.io, a Russian-based online platform that has been hosting hundreds of online shops where illegal products and services were being sold,

The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has recently taken down the Russian-based online platform DEER.IO that is hosting various cybercrime products and services were being sold.

“A Russian-based cyber platform known as DEER.IO was shut down by the FBI today, and its suspected administrator – alleged Russian hacker Kirill Victorovich Firsov – was arrested and charged with crimes related to the hacking of U.S. companies for customers’ personal information.” reads the press release published by the DoJ.

A couple of weeks ago, the authorities announced the arrest of Kirill Victorovich Firsov, the alleged main operator behind Deer.io which is a Shopify-like platform that has been hosting hundreds of online shops used for the sale of hacked accounts and stolen user data. Crooks ware paying around $12/month to open their online store on the platform. The Russian man also advertised the platform on other hacking forums.

Once crooks purchased shop access through the DEER.IO platform, an automated set-up wizard allowed the owner to upload the products and services offered through the shop and configure the payment process via cryptocurrency wallets.

Firsov was arrested at the John F. Kennedy Airport, in New York, on March 7, the man has been accused of running the Deer.io platform since October 2013.

The Russian citizen claimed to have hosted more than 24,000 online stores and more than $17 million.

The DEER.IO online stores are maintained on Russian-controlled bullet-proof infrastructure.

Feds reviewed approximately 250 DEER.IO store used by hackers to offer for sale thousands of compromised accounts, including gamer accounts and PII files containing user names, passwords, U.S. Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, and victim addresses. Most of the victims are in Europe and the United States.

FBI agents successfully purchased hacked data from some stores hosted on the Deer.io platform, offered data were authentic according to the feds.

“There is a robust underground market for hacked stolen information, and this was a novel way to try to market it to criminals hoping not to get caught,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. “Hackers are a threat to our economy, and our privacy and national security, and cannot be tolerated.”

“Deer.io was the largest centralized platform, which promoted and facilitated the sale of compromised social media and financial accounts, personally identifiable information (PII) and hacked computers on the Internet. The seizure of this criminal website represents a significant step in reducing stolen data used to victimize individuals and businesses in the United States and abroad,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Omer Meisel stated.

Pierluigi Paganini