According to police, the suspects were arrested in raids on 17 houses in several different police districts across the country, following an investigation led by the cyber-crimes unit of the police.
By BEN HARTMANUpdated: SEPTEMBER 7, 2015 02:42Police cyber crime unit(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Police arrested on Sunday more than a dozen people from across the country they say are suspected of conspiring to trade child pornography, using the “Dark Net” to cover their tracks.The suspects were arrested in raids on 17 houses in different police districts across the country, following an investigation led by the cybercrimes unit of the Lahav 433 - The National Crime Unit, with the assistance of a number of law enforcement agencies abroad.Police said the suspects carried out their operations using the Dark Net, the online network popular for illegal activities where IP addresses aren’t shared, making it harder to track the users.The case resembles one from April of last year, in which the cyber unit arrested several suspects - including two aged 15 and 17 - suspected of trading in child pornography.During the raids, it also seized computers holding some 100 gigabytes of child pornography The cybercrimes unit was founded by the Israel Police in 2012, and focuses on finding hackers, pedophiles operating online, and more and more often, the trade of drugs through the use of the Dark Net and the online currency Bitcoin.In July, the unit took part in an FBI-led case against a hacking forum called Darkode, which included law enforcement agencies from 18 countries. The members- only forum served as a meeting place for hackers to share information and collaborate with one another, and was used extensively for the buying and selling of stolen data.The Israeli suspects arrested in that case included an Arab man accused of aiding a terrorist group and two brothers from central Israel.