French authorities have dismantled a serious cybercrime operation, arresting 5 hackers who operated BreachForum, one of many world’s largest marketplaces for stolen knowledge, in coordinated raids throughout France.
French police initially suspected the cybercriminals working BreachForum had been Russian or hiding in Russian-speaking territories. Nevertheless, investigations revealed that 4 French hackers of their twenties had been arrested on Monday by specialist officers from the Cybercrime Brigade (BL2C) of the Paris police headquarters. A fifth suspect, referred to as “IntelBroker,” was arrested in February 2025 in a separate operation.
BreachForum served as “the historic crossroads between those that assault corporations and people trying to purchase recent knowledge,” in accordance with Benoît Grunenwald, a cybersecurity professional at ESET. The platform emerged in March 2022 as a successor to RaidForums, which was shuttered by regulation enforcement earlier that 12 months.
The arrested people operated beneath the pseudonyms “ShinyHunters,” “Hole,” “Noct,” and “Depressed,” alongside “IntelBroker”.
These hackers are accused of conducting high-profile knowledge breaches focusing on main French organizations, together with electronics retailer Boulanger, telecommunications supplier SFR, employment company France Travail, and the French Soccer Federation.
The arrests occurred concurrently throughout a number of French territories, together with Hauts-de-Seine close to Paris, Seine-Maritime in Normandy, and the abroad territory of Réunion within the Indian Ocean.
This operation represents the end result of a world investigation that started after the FBI arrested BreachForum’s unique founder, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, referred to as “Pompompurin,” in March 2023.
Following Fitzpatrick’s arrest, the 5 French hackers assumed management of the platform, working discreetly behind screens and pseudonyms. Nevertheless, fears of publicity led them to droop the web site in April 2024 after IntelBroker’s arrest.
“It’s not shocking to search out French folks on the helm, as there’s certainly an inside menace with cyber capabilities,” Grunenwald famous. The professional emphasised that these people possessed refined technical abilities essential to earn belief within the nameless world of cybercrime.
The arrests mark a major blow to the worldwide cybercrime ecosystem, the place knowledge breaches posted on underground boards elevated by 43% in 2024.
BreachForum facilitated the sale of hundreds of thousands of stolen credentials and private data, producing substantial income for cybercriminals worldwide.
With these key directors now in custody, safety consultants count on BreachForum’s operations to considerably decelerate, disrupting a serious channel for cybercriminals searching for to monetize stolen knowledge.
This operation demonstrates the rising effectiveness of worldwide regulation enforcement cooperation in combating borderless cybercrime.
Stay Credential Theft Assault Unmask & On the spot Protection – Free Webinar
