The inside job that took down a ‘deep web’ criminal watering hole

HackBB, a “deep web” forum for criminals protected by Tor anonymity software, was undone by that least criminal of characteristics: trust. The Daily Dot recounts how over the course of a year, a member known as “Boneless” rose through the site’s ranks by publishing comprehensive guides on how to sell stolen credit cards, commit fraud, or disappear. He became so indispensable that he was given moderator privileges and, eventually, control of the site’s escrow service, which processed financial transactions.

Then, in March 2013, Boneless himself disappeared... along with a chunk of money from escrow and a large amount of information from HackBB’s databases. It was, it seemed clear, the result of an inside job. But the heist didn’t end there, and the sheer damage that could be done by (apparently) one man is a reminder that even the most secure or anonymous networks can fall prey to the people using them.