Cybercriminals will have to find a new place to brag about who they’ve pwned and facilitate the sale of data that they’ve swiped. Because BreachForums which is a well known site for doing both has itself been pwned by the FBI:
The seizure occurred on Wednesday morning, soon after the site was used last week to leak data stolen from a Europol law enforcement portal.
The website is now displaying a message stating that the FBI has taken control over it and the backend data, indicating that law enforcement seized both the site’s servers and domains.
“This website has been taken down by the FBI and DOJ with assistance from international partners,” reads the seizure message.
“We are reviewing this site’s backend data. If you have information to report about cyber criminal activity on BreachForums, please contact us,” continues the seizure banner.
The seizure message also shows the two forum profile pictures of the site’s administrators, Baphomet and ShinyHunters, overlaid with prison bars.
If law enforcement has gained access to the hacking forum’s backend data, as they claim, they would have email addresses, IP addresses, and private messages that could expose members and be used in law enforcement investigations.
But it doesn’t end there. The FBI also pwned the following:
The FBI has also seized the site’s Telegram channel, with law enforcement sending messages stating it is under their control.
It also appears that Baphomet who is one of the people who ran the site might have been arrested. I can’t confirm that at present. But I am sure further details will come out about this. But this is as I like to say, a non trivial event. While I am sure that something like BreachForums will pop up to fill this void, the fact that this site was taken down by the FBI is sure to send shockwaves through the hacking community.
Watch this space as I expect more details to appear shortly.
UPDATE: Tom Marsland, VP of Technology, Cloud Range, and Board Chairman of VetSec had this comment:
“For the second time, US and international law enforcement groups worked together to seize BreachForums, a popular data leak site. Just like with the collaboration between Microsoft, CISA, the FBI, and the NSA, this joint effort shows the importance of public and private sectors working together to secure the cyber domain. While the information surrounding this seizure is new at this point, it is exciting to see continued efforts to thwart this activity. Inevitably, these actors will show up again in another place, as they did when RaidForums was seized in 2022, but cyber defenders seem ready and poised to seize assets again if they do.”
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This entry was posted on May 15, 2024 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags FBI. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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BreachForums Has Been Pwned By The FBI
Cybercriminals will have to find a new place to brag about who they’ve pwned and facilitate the sale of data that they’ve swiped. Because BreachForums which is a well known site for doing both has itself been pwned by the FBI:
The seizure occurred on Wednesday morning, soon after the site was used last week to leak data stolen from a Europol law enforcement portal.
The website is now displaying a message stating that the FBI has taken control over it and the backend data, indicating that law enforcement seized both the site’s servers and domains.
“This website has been taken down by the FBI and DOJ with assistance from international partners,” reads the seizure message.
“We are reviewing this site’s backend data. If you have information to report about cyber criminal activity on BreachForums, please contact us,” continues the seizure banner.
The seizure message also shows the two forum profile pictures of the site’s administrators, Baphomet and ShinyHunters, overlaid with prison bars.
If law enforcement has gained access to the hacking forum’s backend data, as they claim, they would have email addresses, IP addresses, and private messages that could expose members and be used in law enforcement investigations.
But it doesn’t end there. The FBI also pwned the following:
The FBI has also seized the site’s Telegram channel, with law enforcement sending messages stating it is under their control.
It also appears that Baphomet who is one of the people who ran the site might have been arrested. I can’t confirm that at present. But I am sure further details will come out about this. But this is as I like to say, a non trivial event. While I am sure that something like BreachForums will pop up to fill this void, the fact that this site was taken down by the FBI is sure to send shockwaves through the hacking community.
Watch this space as I expect more details to appear shortly.
UPDATE: Tom Marsland, VP of Technology, Cloud Range, and Board Chairman of VetSec had this comment:
“For the second time, US and international law enforcement groups worked together to seize BreachForums, a popular data leak site. Just like with the collaboration between Microsoft, CISA, the FBI, and the NSA, this joint effort shows the importance of public and private sectors working together to secure the cyber domain. While the information surrounding this seizure is new at this point, it is exciting to see continued efforts to thwart this activity. Inevitably, these actors will show up again in another place, as they did when RaidForums was seized in 2022, but cyber defenders seem ready and poised to seize assets again if they do.”
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This entry was posted on May 15, 2024 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags FBI. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.