After the major international law enforcement operation that ended with the removal of online marketplaces Hansa Market and AlphaBay from the dark web last July, the TNO (Dutch Organisation for applied natural scientific research) concluded that the damage done to the online criminal network was larger than previously attained through other operations.

Operation Bayonet

The events of the aforementioned operation can be read here. The TNO decided to accurately document the steps that were undertaken during the so-called Operation Bayonet and, more importantly, to create a detailed report of the results after the operation had been completed. Similar operations had resulted in a mere shift of supply and demand on the dark web without really influencing the total amount. Most buyers and sellers just moved to another server when the police tried taking a couple of them down. This isn’t the case with Operation Bayonet.

Goodwill

According to the TNO’s most recent numbers the largest part of users that inhabited the servers of both Hansa Market and AlphaBay moved to a new marketplace. This so-called Dream Market became the leading server for buying and selling on the dark web within mere days after the shutdown by the police and FBI. However, the extra damage that TNO witnessed actually originates from the customers and sellers themselves. As the TNO kept track of all the new users joining the Dream Market, they noticed that almost all of the original customers had to start completely new accounts and effectively lost their clientele and online reputation because of the raid in July. Their ‘goodwill’ had effectively vanished and therefore the TNO could conclude that Operation Bayonet was a resounding success that crippled most dealers and costumers working via the dark web.