The administrator of the main data breach exchange platform, BreachForums, has been arrested by the FBI, which has taken the site offline.
We can speak of a major event in the field of cybercriminals. A few days ago, federal FBI agents arrested a man, who is known by his pseudonym, “Pompompurin”. The latter had founded, at the beginning of last year, the BreachForums site, which quickly became the major place for the exchange of information resulting from data leaks.
The site’s founder acknowledges the facts and will appear on March 24
The years go by and look alike for the individuals at the head of data resale. In April 2022, the administrator nicknamed “Omnipotent” was arrested thanks to international police cooperation. The individual was the head of RaidForums, then known as the largest stolen data supermarket.
“Pompompurin”, or Conor Brian Fitzpatrick of his real name, had quickly taken over from RaidForums by making BreachForums, on the one hand, the carbon copy of its predecessor, and on the other hand, the global hub for leaks of data. But he, in turn, was caught by the patrol on March 15, being apprehended near Peekskill in New York State.
Fitzpatrick is being sued in the United States for ” preparation for the commission of an offense of breaking into a computer system “. He admitted to FBI agents that he was indeed the manager-owner of BreachForums. His parents allowed him to be released on bail, in exchange for a check for $300,000 (pardon me). He will nevertheless have to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia, for a hearing scheduled for Friday, March 24.
BreachForums, the site that has become a benchmark for data theft in one year
In the space of a year, BreachForums has become the crossroads for the exchange of stolen information, by publishing hundreds of stolen databases, belonging to nearly a thousand sites and companies. We find, as often, names, passwords, e-mail or postal addresses, personal information all for sale and which allow their buyers to carry out phishing attacks.
One of the strengths of BreachForums is to have succeeded in attracting former users of the defunct RaidForums. The site has allowed the publication of many famous leaks in recent months, such as those that hit Activision, the video game giant, or the social network Twitter.
Source : Bloomberg
5