The Department of Justice said today that it has taken down the massive dark web child-porn site Welcome to Video. The site generated and distributed exploitative content, and had infrastructure in place that could have supported up to a million users. In a press conference this morning, US attorney Jessie Liu called it "one of the worst forms of evil imaginable."
The site's operator, 23-year-old Jong Woo Son of South Korea, has already been charged and convicted by South Korean officials and is currently serving his sentence there. Wednesday's announcement unsealed a nine-count US indictment against Son by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia. In addition to the site takedown and Son's indictment, officials around the world also arrested a total of 337 Welcome to Video users in 23 US states, Washington DC, and in 11 other countries. The initiative resulted in the rescue of at least 23 children being abused by site participants.
The takedown is notable also for the investigation that enabled it, which focused not on offensive hacking efforts or surveilling encrypted communications, but on tracing bitcoin transactions.
"In August 2017 an investigation began into the illicit transactions of virtual currency on the dark net. By following the funds on a blockchain it ultimately uncovered the severity of Welcome to Video, a Tor network-based child pornography site that accepted payment in bitcoin," deputy assistant attorney general Richard Downing said in the press conference. "The Department of Justice will not stand for exploitation of our nation’s children. Let today’s announcement send a message: If you were involved in these crimes we are coming for you."
Welcome to Video launched in June 2015 and operated until law enforcement shut it down in Marc ..
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