Cyber Incident Victim: Daniel's Hosting
Date:
Mar 2020
Location:
Germany
Summary
A dark web hosting service experienced its second major breach in 16 months when an attacker compromised its backend database, leading to the deletion of all hosted content and the permanent shutdown of approximately 7,600 sites. The operator, citing time constraints from managing the service alongside a full-time job, did not conduct a thorough investigation but confirmed the attacker accessed only backend systems, advising users to treat account passwords as potentially exposed. Following the incident, the service was discontinued indefinitely due to the excessive effort required to police illegal content, though the operator suggested alternative providers and hinted at a future relaunch with improved features after prioritizing development. This breach mirrored a previous attack that had erased over 6,500 sites.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On March 10, 2020, at approximately 03:30 am UTC, an attacker breached the backend database of Daniels Hosting (DH), a dark web hosting service operated by German developer Daniel Winzen. The hacker deleted the platform's entire database, resulting in the immediate takedown of approximately 7,600 dark web sites hosted on the service. Winzen announced the incident through a message on DH's now-defunct portal and confirmed details via email to ZDNet on March 25. He stated he had not determined the method of intrusion due to limited personal investigation, citing time constraints from his full-time job and other projects. The compromise exclusively affected DH's backend database account, with no direct breach of individual user hosting accounts. Winzen advised users to treat their DH account passwords as potentially leaked and to change them if reused elsewhere, though no evidence suggested credential theft had occurred beyond the backend system. Following the attack, Winzen permanently discontinued the hosting service, describing it as a free-time project that had become unsustainable due to administrative burdens.
The March 2020 incident marked the second major breach of Daniels Hosting in 16 months, following a November 2018 attack that erased over 6,500 sites through similar database deletion. DH had become the largest dark web hosting provider after the 2017 takedown of Freedom Hosting II by the Anonymous collective, which targeted that service for hosting child abuse material. Winzen attributed the shutdown decision to excessive time spent removing illegal and scam-related sites—a task he stated consumed ten times more effort than development work. He directed affected users to alternative dark web hosting services including Freedom Hosting Reloaded, Ablative Hosting, OneHost, and IBHost. While Winzen expressed intent to relaunch the service months later with improved features and reduced administrative demands, he confirmed no immediate plans for restoration. The breach eliminated a major dark web infrastructure provider, disrupting thousands of hidden services reliant on its free hosting platform.