Narcotics, weapons, hacked bank details, confidential files… Since 2017, the Dark French Anti System (DFAS) has allowed people with bad intentions to acquire numerous illicit products. The last major French darknet platform was dismantled on September 8 by customs, indicates a press release published this Friday, October 10, which reveals new information.
The platform brought together more than 10,000 users, who in particular had the possibility of accessing confidential files. Among them are police files such as the TAJ (processing of criminal records), the FPR (wanted persons file) and the SIS (Schengen information system). According to Le Parisien, buyers could purchase them for a few dozen or even hundreds of euros, depending on demand.
“Often people who want access to this or that police file simply want to know if they are in it… If they are the subject of an investigation, for example,” a senior official from the National Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigations (DNRED) told the newspaper.
DFAS creator arrested and charged
Customs, however, does not know whether these confidential files come from corrupt police officers on duty. “We have never tested the veracity of the offers. Are they capable of providing what they sell? We don’t know,” said the senior official.
In addition to the dismantling of the DFAS, after months of investigation, DNRED agents also arrested its 28-year-old creator and administrator. He is described as a “self-taught computer scientist” who “has been evolving in the darknet ecosystem for years.” An accomplice, 36 years old, was also arrested. Both men were charged.
As part of their investigation, customs seized all the data hosted on the platform’s server, as well as the equivalent of 600,000 euros in bitcoins. “Small quantities of narcotics were also discovered during the searches,” DNRED said.
After opening a judicial investigation, the Cyber 33 section of the Paris prosecutor’s office entrusted the continuation of the investigation to the Anti-Cybercrime Office (OFAC) of the General Directorate of the National Police. She will be responsible for using the captured data in an attempt to identify other DFAS actors.
This is the fifth darknet platform dismantled by DNRED since 2018, after La Main Noire, the French Deep Web, Le Monde Parrallèle and Casa Nostra. While the intelligence service is happy about this, it is aware that the fight is not over, because a new platform will replace DFAS.
Source: BFM TV
