Legislation enforcement businesses have formally seized management of the infamous BreachForums platform, a web-based bazaar recognized for peddling stolen knowledge, for the second time inside a 12 months.
The web site (“breachforums[.]st”) has been changed by a seizure banner stating the clearnet cybercrime discussion board is below the management of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The operation is the results of a collaborative effort from authorities in Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Switzerland, the U.Okay., the U.S., and Ukraine.
The FBI has additionally taken management of the Telegram channel operated by Baphomet, who turned the administrator of the discussion board following the arrest of his predecessor Conor Brian Fitzpatrick (aka pompompurin) in March final 12 months.
It is price noting a previous iteration of BreachForums, hosted at breached.vc/.to/.co and managed by pompompurin, was seized by regulation enforcement in late June 2023.
“This Telegram chat is below the management of the FBI,” a message posted on the channel reads. “The BreachForums web site has been taken down by the FBI and DOJ with help from worldwide companions.”
“We’re reviewing the location’s backend knowledge. When you’ve got info to report about cyber felony exercise on BreachForums, please contact us: t.me/fbi_breachforums [email protected] breachforums.ic3.gov.”
It is at the moment not clear if Baphomet and his different fellow administrator ShinyHunters have been arrested, though the seizure banner depicts the profile footage related to each of them as behind bars.
“From June 2023 till Might 2024, BreachForums (hosted at breachforums.st/.cx/.is/.vc and run by ShinyHunters) was working as a clear-net market for cybercriminals to purchase, promote, and commerce contraband, together with stolen entry units, technique of identification, hacking instruments, breached databases, and different unlawful companies,” the businesses said.
BreachForums emerged in March 2022 following the regulation enforcement dismantling of RaidForums and the arrest of its proprietor “All-powerful.” Following its shutdown in 2023, it resurfaced once more after Baphomet teamed up with ShinyHunters to launch a brand new web site below the identical title.
