A British hacker who brought the entire nation of Liberia offline more than seven years ago was arraigned before a US federal court today,The hacker, Daniel Kaye, has been accused of operating a dark web marketplace called The Real Deal for stolen login information for social media and bank accounts, US government devices, and a variety of illicit goods like drugs and unlawful hacking tools.
“This case is an example of our persistent determination to work with our international partners to hold criminals accountable no matter how sophisticated their cyber fraud or their geographic location,” Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement. “Let this indictment be a message that the FBI and our partners place a high priority on the investigation and prosecution of hackers who intrude into our infrastructure and threaten the personal security of our citizens.
After operating The Real Deal for nearly a year, Kaye vanished in August 2016 shortly after other site administrators were said to have been arrested,While the charges pertain to Kaye’s alleged illicit online marketplace, the hacker previously pleaded guilty in 2019 to a London court for launching a series of cyberattacks against a Liberian telecommunications company, taking down the country’s internet for several days.
Is he a hacker that ran a website, or is he considered to be a hacker because he administered the website ?