Update: Dread Downtime and Upgrades
Dread, the top darkweb forum, has been offline for days, leaving users wondering about the future of the site and the status of the forum’s admin. After several days of silence, the admin—HugBunter—added a notice to the Dread landing page about the downtime and a number of updates to the platform.
Dread Downtime
Although Dread went down several times in June and July this year as a result of a series of denial of service attacks, the forum stayed online for the majority of the month of August and the beginning of September. Downtimes usually lasted less than a day. And almost every time Dread went down, HugBunter would post a message to the subreddit created for letting users know about downtimes and maintenance. It briefly went down on September 14 and again on September 18. HugBunter notified users of the downtimes and brought the site back online within a few hours of the /r/DreadAlert posts.
Not long after HugBunter had brought Dread up on September 18, the site became inaccessible to users and has remained inaccessible for a number of days. As of publication, Dread has been down for six days (using a Tweet from DarkDotFail as a reference point). We finally know something about the downtime; HugBunter updated the generic “Down for Maintenance” page with a signed message that explained the purpose of the downtime and served as a proof of life.
Working on a huge update to provide increased stability as the platform grows further and will reduce a whole lot of spam and phishing. The update includes a variety of bug fixes and new features and should be ready to go live by this evening. I am extremely sorry for the downtime and lack of communication right now, this is the biggest update to the codebase that I will have performed and completely restructures everything behind the scenes. Thank you for your continued patience.
The message highlights stability in the context of the recent influx of Dread users. A record number of users have subscribed to the Dread subdread (similar to a default subreddit). In the most recent /r/DreadAlert post, HugBunter also mentioned that he was dealing with a “scalability issue.” He is likely dealing with the same issue right now.
Dread is an increasingly popular spot for phishers to spread fake links to Empire Market and DarkDotFail. The influx of new users has only increased the number of targets for these phishers and encouraged them to increase the scale of their own operations. Almost every post on the Empire Market subdread had at least one comment with links to fake versions of Empire Market or DarkDotFail. The same comments spread to other popular subdreads as well.
Spammers have also scaled their operations to match the Dread user-base. Accounts similar to bot accounts on Twitter have been posting nonsensical gibberish on any post about a hot topic on Dread, such as comments about Dread itself, various marketplaces, and even DarkDotFail. The posts—recognizable by anyone as obvious spam—usually promote one site and make absurd claims only convincing enough for the least intuitive tabloid editors. These spammers have been submitting a dozen or more of the same comments on some posts.
The spam has been only a minor inconvenience to Dread users but has likely kept Dread mods fairly busy. The phishers have somehow continued to steal funds from the users of at least one market.
HugBunter’s update to Dread will likely deal with both the rampant phishing and annoying spam comments in addition to the scalablity issues mentioned in the update as well as the most recent /r/DreadAlert post.
The signature is valid. HugBunter’s key is available here (darknetlive) or here (DarkDotFail).
This post will be updated once Dread comes back online.
The Signed Message
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Working on a huge update to provide increased stability as the platform grows further and will reduce a whole lot of spam and phishing. The update includes a variety of bug fixes and new features and should be ready to go live by this evening. I am extremely sorry for the downtime and lack of communication right now, this is the biggest update to the codebase that I will have performed and completely restructures everything behind the scenes. Thank you for your continued patience. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCgAdFiEEYTOs4fS4fFHb8/6l6GEFEPmm6SIFAl2IpgkACgkQ6GEFEPmm 6SKAzQ//bHDUegdtInNBWtDhIKTl9BizmCFC6L555YAdk73nq6FbcMx8WRXmFtvn v48yaxz6MdK2rbMKTIuLwZJH7ytvBIthpOwAJUmaOdnB9fTbyxjXkYym8VxceRVS vZVhYB21BUVICec01x5gJGIFzLUaVpPvdlyrg6oBjppeYxqfQPe8oQT47h3ugGyw /Dh/8UT4dib09U5FYjExzK5JQYZxroFiknSiDkoUC5a+Rr77xD7Sr9gmkWACeU3r frVn0JA0oPmGBOLLbYRh+ejQHISec9jk5D5Orq3lQVjNBAaCK2CsBKZbsC3wrIv3 kdfFeHvwkQzk7cjjR5saHJRYGVXRysNPIjRHCE9jX4IiuBxgTLYOvntHOEsa76WK v53T6mUzd8ceLwlC0ITgMQHnBxA1kmOKyrxm8yM8ufyy2zqkUPVFSZo6LLUr0xTJ wxfb0oTkdsjfPgSJK1K+kJARq7ImBch9vd/fimNBFnFmaYcJD7YLJ9RJYQnYA2Dm 5QTaTZhdv/aD261OHvtIWMOQSsl/S7bhxZx9z41x1+t+/riz0SYpB/WXDF1LxzhW a1ewX+BixAwciiSKueg35t07qe2ImFLZO98H9Xs4UNKhZNV8By4hLoiJStjNIdKg G/qggxpaoE7ltR6RmMC3ImJ/a9PwaJxWgZfRLg1h682tNK5NxW8= =2R+j -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
HugBunter’s PGP Key
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-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- mQINBFnJVGQBEAC8qfs1mLpDahTWBqKoj8rlwpaEXj8P0n0aOvmyBi9ZPArghGq1 8Smf03RAWPmMfueTQ8y2uxX3AwbOzmmgdT8cLSqTbmSWHAMRvyY+j2psYO8taqr8 qQY+AJORJxflHOR1hL2IB+TwrqovbQO1p2y4MQZc6xBWjCSHWG98TsPtorYD84ZD T+34SYqVgzu6Q0nVtew9SM5rk/vpU5boFpRq2/RP6sxNgWDt5qrdlDQdbUCv9Vv7 OQM0KvOzfwusWxwDTuW1hsrzgFJ3k6Gh2nBzk/MNbO1ZagsnjWGXRTFVBpPfAasn 9vYwCE2L+iiYTrvy42aqj+mUy5PyhXQP2UNTvQLx1nU0Ql2TXSZjjv5rSK6Do+6/ Idy+xjYBQC0Tx2e9WMSCZWpQJJWyHsOdiQSVDe2UT9AnRCEpnUWckiVDFRFDgYaV 5/lR+oA3hbjmHLadVNgDOKhkdV4GFXuJ/w7ICTBWbZAAPj+E8NcBLwYjc5gg13b2 f53sM4P8j4cafluf6aptORF0drqWtRbYjVMmqKZ8LSWjqSjYi6PzO2jOAcOJeqW0 hQQFxdh2PQ8mUixXjN3XNtOBw6ItuIB/eVobSrzw7Jr9sjTWS4g4b2XkPCEGJZg9 dFt90uBAsw60m9SwIkAGKh/8uoauX48OfF6kQe+u+YUJwU3uiFQQyChsbQARAQAB tC9IdWdCdW50ZXIgPGh1Z2J1bnRlckBqYWJiZXIuY2FseXhpbnN0aXR1dGUub3Jn PokCTgQTAQoAOBYhBGEzrOH0uHxR2/P+pehhBRD5pukiBQJZyVRkAhsDBQsJCAcD BRUKCQgLBRYCAwEAAh4BAheAAAoJEOhhBRD5puki//MP/A+VI5cHWr7TzqffXM8w GLSJXdeJ664+003IVOuoxK3mgSPrZQ35fkY77MSHXt3BqrZrL3DeG5L3p5ZA00U3 +yX+OZP2S1FchaPUx1YwsUo+k49eLXrqmlw3KUwKOLeiB+UrOPrQpCwQWtp2WV5A r5SlwUBAQtdtzWgc3jezr7YnpnBy2l5E0UU4RWYo1ZpPbufxSnuWL6+VV3SJs7Ls TSOP4dZ723/7saQH5Tt0+WTlHRd2LOuFYUMYcSizC6vD+78YDmvRFsjnKUMfknU5 2gRfzz33TQd9biXhbkcm3HS0fCU8Wg8sA7fOjFBg/NL8L1sO62xp1/h8M+R4isgZ 4plhbCi5QBtR1cTpLWc/xy6PHUekd9LeGVK8rM3O5tFkYtOM4Nk8Jm/WBbxNn9sD Iy45jUzeRBzjN0UzyGBdirF9v519arosjcRxjxiYPfqFk9H1SBWVBvYDbB/sfS+q hNiCXe2d3HyV6oH9m8iW8shAStuSEZd4bLTBkYSzPI1T+FW2S1038rqDs65LcojO yCnw9zfVR7DPZLZieizaDIn2uLlR9nDQVzpo3VVAJLiooHyUwC0H3oSs9hL5pSK9 HPK65Ps5rloJy8KCBTO8DcdcNLa1v/dALXVEzDkoVkYdFR8V6yXvXN1PIZqXkf0b MWAGLbW/QvPBL6YzpivKKG49uQINBFnJVGQBEACW9ir6AbRxwsGu6ivOzBtqV8oh nzlhGnpPjdgGiYtvUrj+tosXJ/D1Jf5CQhLDxNeLvIGf3m/5xQvtzVxc7vXSPXhg +GAZBETji76i9ePwMwYLN0T6nTyVQ6FcpYqBl6WLRFCHZXLa/eUqvcvZFdr+a3BI 1q6SZsbnnEqKjqUz1oWMRLIUlYLJfxsoeBg7c81lPH7Sy9goZ86kAk1BwvhLC5hI CkR/pC9pg9/85YF3kG+lboGxLZHyu9FC84D4YqJB5Jljf8A3ISzxJdw8repSJb1k 6lr7OdR7LDmEzEiJPN9Co+2TqH01yQUok8ezGVDwk1aU6IRnXp1ZHiyXMOJyX1T6 +wbrEtJmfijX6o73m/U1RkS099kg5f/rxMORzIYMsWHxHBqJR56Gpdr7+DtapTRs rtaw1GXGa1LaZP6EVDYd9FAhDUQbYLxCWkJPAZKWgjA3tLPsMgpN0j/Vl5kkjvz+ /L2L72Bu2L03TzxWw1DPA0+Ot3ST4SnLg7GDpIkWKR58S5TcUbGhR4rsRlBUQ6s2 PQIfO6tAOLsaoW7m6mpu75dvtAu3PzMW7Z8i62aRbVb8H/eBlIqioXCGSnBnfJgm GHumH6tYRwnDFCLkXOVT0QPPAYsyxMR90ygDgxmbjMUyvlvZ3J7WYX6SGMrT+cGo /NK38PlJh13XxAjIXwARAQABiQI2BBgBCgAgFiEEYTOs4fS4fFHb8/6l6GEFEPmm 6SIFAlnJVGQCGwwACgkQ6GEFEPmm6SJZVg/9FVp4TgXwu02tX2zBRXd08dQLwr4p WFijjKID+6oGlA3Ynu4sY9lz3Jl3FHe+Jg30WqO3BhFXDsdvtHHe6clK02811KqE 2DhUAVgw5bWlwDzWg1p9p0zcpc2oszMcUD98moqYs8BPRLpJL8FY2HIwLgf1d6FW qfJWzqSeQLwnTk2TY8JdOIHiNQyGO3iVvDbTwNiSD4uX4ED275G608MOaS7Sy7Ap ZZ0cC75D/DpVJHX2xZax++x6ybG+MQTv9R4PX/T/tBBT58xtZAXPbml+K9VZ0glH kAVjFnRk+I4EhkT7677wVB97j6Mw+8dSiUVPsXqXViM9KJqRhzZ52bt4jugEBHT0 voZgkFBbljvBJomPLo77H9tIkoG6EJpmLQoJy7D8CKhsa2KZsVRGTphYDIOj0Gyj rBZVYJ+Ie2jUu3Zkf30WQxlSjr2FzTS2qlsbUEduJ6eOKO/FnhdswzSDQMu2DqIa gp7bM4EIyG06P60FypcwiALCB8HdJyrV3Ih2X/AgZFUQ89pAfPI8+7+hvZd00ClG bWjYY6scPu6wWKYqBQVItpCREwAhDBvDNDdPq1jV8TMjU1D3tnSAf+IOibk6bZ09 JHT72Xx0//iREagtyMr8gfBZxVfD/DBNUqTWWYkWWTTOpqspJvE/I7vV7AbUmiof +9k+iQYsg+3PfFo= =FkeJ -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- |
Comments (17)
Nunya
Something seems awful suspicious about this. Not trying to cause unnecessary panic, but odd behavior for Hug. Is it possible that LE was causing the issues while watching him to make sure he was logged in to everything so they could nab him. Now LE would have his PGP and everything else. Take them a few days to figure out what they have exactly and how to use it.
Just saying, its not like HUG to not give an update for days at a time.
this
weird first hugbunter fails to update the canary then rumors about witchman05 being arrested arrested now dread is down? what is happening people? this is too weird to be a coincidence
delta
Nothing suspicious. The site was flooded with thousands of posts by the darknetstats folks and it was literally unusable. They were creating hundreds of accounts by the hour to flood their shitposts. Pretty sure HB is making changes to fix whatever issue they exploited to make all those accounts.
Jah
Some moderators are gone and all this is very strange I’m keeping away from them until I trust again
me from here
all hail dread
johnnytalksalot
blah blah blah come to my bla bla bla im so bored i need dread back up i dont know what to do been walking in circles waitnig for the re opening hug you owe me some coke ;)
grid
Too many pishers and exploiters he’s alone (possibily) I hope he gets the help he needs
RicoW88
Hug was being questioned by LE, he’s a tx69 rat
Barry
He should at least update the message with a more current status. Should be ready this evening, clearly he got that wrong or something has happened to him
The One
Hug is the feds. Dread has been a honey trap since it was launched.
S.dot
Sam Sara market is saying down I just loaded money yesterday and placed a order I hope the site get back up
The main problem with Hugbunter is
The feds are looking for him just as hard as a market admin. He supplies vendor stores and runs Dread the feds charge him under the rico act.
Something is
Going in with Dread
LoL
What is going on?
is Hug Gone
?
BearerOfBadNews
I hate to be bearer of bad news but Hug has been detained. News of this will be released either this weekend or early next week. Unfortunately LE gained access to some of the resources. I say detained because his arrest isn’t official and he may be cooperating. I have little details as of now but unfortunately he had an opsec leak that was exploited. I do not know the full nature of this opsec leak but it was enough for LE to gain compromising and identifying information. I know this will be met with skepticism but I wanted to beat LE’s attempts at relaunching Dread with some critical zero day exploits to grab low hanging fruit. If you have a shop with hugbunter you better be sure you know how to handle bitcoin. He never did release XMR for whatever reason but consider all vendor wallets, the xpub at least, to be compromised. LE won’t be able to take coins but they have full history of vendor wallets of each shop. Be careful.
Dingbat
@BearerOfBadNews - Funny how you mention Hug and the vendor shops he made along with not releasing XMR, were you not complaining about this under the account Vendy_McVendFace a few weeks back? I find that to be a great coincidence.