In a message shared over a Telegram channel, the currently active Breachforums admin Baphomet said the forum will shut down, contradicting an earlier statement that they’ll continue operations as usual after its owner and administration Conor Brian Fitzpatrick’s (also known as pompompourin) March 15 arrest.
While Baphomet did not disclose any reasons for the shutdown, it’s likely due to suspicions that law enforcement agencies might have gained access to the site’s configuration files, source code and other information about the forum’s users.
BreachForums started as a resurrection for RaidForums on the dark web shortly after the latter’s demise in 2022, following the FBI’s takedown of its domain. RaidForums specialised in selling stolen data from attacks and breaches. BreachForums followed in its footsteps before becoming a popular choice for threat actors to announce attacks and stolen data archives.
Fitzpatrick himself was a high-profile member of RaidForums and has been involved in several high-profile company breaches including stealing customer data from Robinhood, sending fake emails using a flaw in FBI’s Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal and exploiting a Twitter API vulnerability to confirm email addresses and other sensitive information of 5.4 million Twitter users.
Fitzpatrick was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and is set to appear before the District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia on March 24.
Baphomet stated in their message that this was not the end for BreachForums while also announcing that they’ll be setting up another Telegram channel for those interested in what’s next to come.
Considering the popularity of the two forums, it’s likely that we’ll see a third forum trying to fill the void left by Raid and Breach. In the meantime, cybercriminals are expected to move to underground hacking forums on the dark web to announce exploits and sell illegally sourced data.
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