U.S. and international law enforcement agencies have seized Genesis Market, a notorious hacker marketplace used to acquire compromised credentials and digital browser fingerprints.<\/p>\n

The FBI announced the takedown, dubbed \u201cOperation Cookie Monster,\u201d on Wednesday. Genesis Market domains now display a notice stating that U.S. law enforcement officials have executed a seizure warrant. \u201cGenesis Market\u2019s domains have been seized by the FBI pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin,\u201d the message reads.<\/p>\n

In addition to the FBI, the notice says the takedown involved law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland and Sweden.<\/p>\n

The operation also saw about 120 people arrested and 200 searches carried out globally. The U.K.\u2019s National Crime Agency said it arrested 19 suspected site users, including two men aged 34 and 36, who are being held on suspicion of fraud and computer misuse. A senior FBI official told TechCrunch that arrests have also been made in the United States, but exact numbers were not confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the biggest operation of its kind. We\u2019re not just going after administrators or taking sites down; we\u2019re going after users on a global scale,\u201d the official said. They added that by obtaining Genesis Market\u2019s computer systems, officials have identified approximately 59,000 users of the marketplace.<\/p>\n