The man behind one of the vital well-known and worthwhile Dark Web marketplaces has been arraigned on costs associated to its operation after years of makes an attempt to prosecute him, in line with federal officers. Daniel Kaye, 34, of London, is alleged to be the administrator of The Real Deal, an underworld bazaar that, in its day, supplied an assortment of illicit companies—together with the power to hack into U.S. federal companies.

First showing in 2015, The Real Deal bought weapons, medication, hacking instruments, stolen login credentials, and different unlawful stuff to Tor customers who have been prepared to shell out bitcoin. Among the shady choices obtainable on the location have been stolen passwords permitting for the infiltration of main social media firms and American authorities companies. While the location has been largely defunct since late 2016, previous to its shutdown The Real Deal was linked to quite a few large-scale information breaches, together with these involving MySpace and LinkedIn.

Kaye, who was arrested in London in 2019 on charges in a separate hacking case, started his profession as a cybersecurity contractor within the law-abiding world however finally discovered himself drawn to unlawful exploits, in line with the Department of Justice. He began taking jobs that concerned company espionage and cyberattacks, a Bloomberg profile from 2019 notes, finally resulting in a lifetime of cybercrime.

Kaye is claimed to have run The Real Deal from 2015 to 2017 beneath a wide range of pseudonyms, together with “Spdrman,” “Bestbuy,” “UserL0ser,” “David Cohen,” “Dlinch Kravitz,” and others. Using these digital disguises, he pedaled stolen login credentials for presidency companies, together with NASA, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Postal Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He can also be alleged to have labored along with one other prison—a nonetheless unidentified consumer dubbed “thedarkoverlord”—to promote stolen Social Security numbers.

Kaye was indicted in April of final 12 months for costs of entry system fraud and cash laundering conspiracy. However, he was abroad on the time of the indictment and needed to be extradited to the U.S. for his arraignment Wednesday.

“While living overseas, this defendant allegedly operated an illegal website that made hacking tools and login credentials available for purchase, including those for U.S. government agencies,” stated U.S. Attorney Ryan Okay. Buchanan, within the wake of Kaye’s arraignment. Buchanan additional referred to as the case a “reminder” that “federal law enforcement will make those accused of breaking U.S. laws face their day in court, regardless of where they reside in the world.”