Tag Archives: dark

While the latest cyber exploits grab headlines, a less-dramatic side of threat activity also deserves attention: bulletproof hosting services (BPHS). These web hosting sites specialize in providing resilient internet hosting services which are valuable to cyber criminals wanting to avoid regulatory and legal scrutiny. They enable their customers to host data and services that would be disallowed by other providers or could be easily removed by law enforcement.

Gaining real-time insights into BPHS can help your security team better understand – and counter – potential threats.

Threat actors need hosting services, too 

Just as legitimate organizations depend on web hosting to store web content and provide internet connectivity, many cybercriminals need third-party infrastructure…

A dual national of the United States and Ireland was sentenced yesterday to 324 months, or 27 years, in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for conspiracy to advertise child pornography.

Eric Eoin Marques, 36, of Dublin, Ireland, pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2020 to conspiracy to advertise child pornography. According to court documents, between July 24, 2008 and July 29, 2013, Marques operated a free anonymous hosting service located on the dark web, an area of the internet that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable. The hosting service hosted websites that allowed users to view and share images documenting the sexual abuse of children, including the abuse of prepubescent minors…

A dual national of the United States and Ireland was sentenced today to 324 months, or 27 years, in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for conspiracy to advertise child pornography.

Eric Eoin Marques, 36, of Dublin, Ireland, pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2020 to conspiracy to advertise child pornography. According to court documents, between July 24, 2008 and July 29, 2013, Marques operated a free anonymous hosting service located on the dark web, an area of the internet that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable. The hosting service hosted websites that allowed users to view and share images documenting the sexual abuse of children, including the abuse of prepubescent minors and…

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang today sentenced Eric Eoin Marques, age 36, of Dublin, Ireland, to 27 years in federal prison, followed lifetime supervised release, for conspiracy to advertise child pornography on the dark web.  Marques, a dual national citizen of the United States and Ireland, pleaded guilty to that charge on February 6, 2020, after he was extradited by Irish authorities.  Marques arrived in the United States on March 23, 2019, to face federal criminal charges filed in Maryland on August 8, 2013. 

According to his plea agreement, between July 24, 2008 and July 29, 2013, Marques conspired to advertise child pornography by operating a free, anonymous web hosting service (AHS) located on the “dark web”, an area of the Internet that…