The shutdown of the PIILOPUOTI marketplace by Finland and Europol is excellent news, and one that should be celebrated by all. Many public and private organisations across different nations are often involved in such takedowns, and it takes an incredible amount of dedication and collaboration to pull apart dark web marketplaces. Managing such operations and being successful is no small feat.

This is not the first dark web marketplace shutdown this year, with Genesis Market being seized in April. These shutdowns really demonstrate the power of a cooperation across the ‘goodies’ in the fight against cybercrime, especially between the public and private sector. The capability of Federal governments can be significantly boosted by the insights and support from cybersecurity companies’ threat intelligence capabilities are therefore invaluable to organisations like Europol. A message has been sent to all criminals operating with cyber enablement that actions have consequences, and they should watch their back.