(RoyalPatriot.com )- The latest in a long-running attempt to crack down on forums where cybercriminals congregate, the US and foreign law enforcement officials have taken control of a prominent website where hackers have promoted data stolen from American individuals and corporations.
“This domain has been seized” by the FBI, US Secret Service, and Justice Department was the notification visitors were greeted with when arriving. It was posted to the RaidForums’ home page on Tuesday.
RaidForums is renowned for offering hacked material in English rather than Russian, which is the favored language of other criminal forums. According to the statement, law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and other countries were engaged in the seizure.
According to threat intelligence firm Recorded Future, RaidForums had an extensive reach and impact among low to mid-level hackers, with over 530,000 registered users.
According to the Justice Department, Diogo Santos Coelho, RaidForums’ suspected creator, was detained in the United Kingdom on January 31 and is in detention until the outcome of his extradition procedures.
It’s the latest step in a long-term worldwide attempt to disrupt the markets where criminality thrives. Hydra, a famous Russian dark web market with $5 billion in transactions since 2015, had its computer systems confiscated by German authorities last week.
The shutdown of this online market to resale hacked or stolen data eliminates one of the most lucrative methods for hackers to benefit from large-scale data theft. According to a law enforcement person familiar with the case, US officials had access to RaidForums’ computer infrastructure for several months before the seizure was disclosed. This provided investigators with crucial information on who acquired and sold compromised data at the time.
The confiscation of RaidForums is a setback for criminals hoping for a quick buck from data breaches. However, researchers believe that the underground market for stolen financial and personal data will continue to thrive since there are several alternative internet bazaars where such data may be traded.
RaidForums made it incredibly easy for new and established threat actors to participate in the data breach and leak community because of its low entry barriers.
