Feds seize infamous and shuttered hacking web site BreachForums

Three months after arresting its administrator, U.S. federal authorities have seized the area of infamous hacking web site BreachForums.

For a time, the discussion board was the go-to group for English talking cybercriminals, who would share, promote, and promote private information stolen from a wide range of web sites and firms. In March, the FBI arrested Conor Brian Fitzpatrick in New York, accusing him of being the person behind the nickname “Pompompurin,” the administrator of BreachForums. Shortly after, the location’s new administrator shut down the discussion board, promising it will by no means come again.

On Thursday, the content material of the previous web site was changed with a discover that authorities have seized the area. The discover shows ten logos of regulation enforcement companies from across the globe, the BreachForums brand, and — in what seems to be an epic troll — a picture of a handcuffed Pompompurin, a character initially from Hi there Kitty.

Earlier this month, nevertheless, the brand new admin, who goes by “Baphomet,” had a change of coronary heart and relaunched the discussion board on a brand new area, teaming up with one other infamous hacker group who goes by ShinyHunters.

“Hi there, Welcome to BreachForums (reincarnated)! This discussion board is again with the unique staff behind Breachforums,” an account referred to as ShinyHunters posted within the new discussion board.

In one other publish, Baphomet wrote: “For these someway not within the loop, I needed to place out a transparent message. We have now established the group as soon as once more […] That is our solely area, no different domains ought to be trusted.”

Neither Baphomet nor ShinyHunters instantly responded to requests for remark despatched to their Telegram accounts.

The quick existence of the brand new BreachForums has already been rocky. Earlier this week, somebody leaked the private information of greater than 4,200 registered members, together with nicknames, the related electronic mail addresses, IP addresses, social media handles, scrambled passwords, and different information. One of many new web site’s directors wrote on Telegram that there had been a breach, accusing a rival discussion board of the hack, as first reported by the cybersecurity weblog HackRead.

TechCrunch has seen a duplicate of the leaked discussion board information, which was briefly printed as downloadable hyperlinks from the previous BreachForums web page shortly earlier than the area was seized. The leaked information included the consumer’s registered electronic mail tackle, IP tackle, and their scrambled passwords. One other file contained the consumer database for the discussion board itself, together with Telegram handles and discussion board signatures.

Timestamps discovered within the dataset recommend the information pertains to accounts created as lately as June.

In keeping with the be aware left on the since-seized web site: “BreachForums clone has already been hacked. Don’t belief web sites impersonating, as stated a number of occasions it wont [sic] be returning.”

The authorities have been going after hacking boards for the final couple of years, shutting down and seizing RaidForums, one other well-known hacking discussion board, in 2022. The unique BreachForums was launched after the tip of RaidForums.

Do you might have details about BreachForums? We’d love to listen to from you. From a non-work gadget, you’ll be able to contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Sign at +1 917 257 1382, or through Wickr, Telegram and Wire @lorenzofb, or electronic mail [email protected]. You too can contact TechCrunch through SecureDrop.