Former E-Root Darknet Marketplace Operator Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Prison

U.S. authorities have sentenced Sandu Diaconu, a citizen of the Republic of Moldova (also known by the aliases utmsandu, sandushell, rootarhive, and WinD3str0y), to 42 months in prison for operating E-Root, a major darknet marketplace where access to hacked computers around the world was sold.

According to court documents, after serving his prison term, Diaconu—who was the administrator of E-Root from January 2015 to February 2020—will be under supervised release for an additional three years.

Diaconu was arrested in the United Kingdom in 2021 while attempting to flee the country after authorities seized E-Root’s domains at the end of 2020. In the fall of 2023, he agreed to be extradited to the United States, where he and unnamed accomplices were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, computer fraud, and access device fraud.

About the E-Root Marketplace

E-Root was a marketplace that offered access to hacked computers worldwide in exchange for cryptocurrency. According to information obtained during the investigation, the platform sold access to more than 350,000 compromised systems, including computers in various industries and at least one government system in Tampa, Florida.

“Based on evidence gathered during the investigation, authorities believe that more than 350,000 credentials were offered for sale on the marketplace,” the U.S. Department of Justice reported. “Victims were located around the world and represented all sectors of industry. Many victims suffered ransomware attacks, and some of the stolen credentials listed on the marketplace were linked to tax fraud schemes and identity theft.”

Marketplace Features and Security

E-Root provided buyers with various filters and search tools, allowing listings to be sorted by price range, region, provider, operating system, RDP or SSH access, and more.

Law enforcement noted last fall that E-Root operated on a distributed network, which made the service resilient and difficult to trace. The platform also had security measures in place to conceal the real identities of sellers, buyers, and administrators. Additionally, E-Root featured a specialized cryptocurrency exchange service, enabling users to convert Bitcoin to Perfect Money and vice versa.