DOJ takes down huge hacker forum, seizes LeakBase’s data

One of the world’s largest online forums used to buy and sell stolen data and cybercrime tools was dismantled, the Justice Department announced.

In conjunction with law enforcement agents and officers in 14 countries, the U.S. shut down LeakBase on Tuesday and Wednesday, seizing its data and two of the domains used by the forum and posting seizure banners on the hacker’s sites.

The platform had enabled cybercriminals to buy, sell and exchange compromised data, according to Europol, the European Union’s central criminal intelligence and law enforcement agency.

“The takedown of this cyber forum disrupts a major international platform that cybercriminals use to obtain and profit from the theft of sensitive personal, banking and account credentials,” Andrew Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, said in a press release. “This operation illustrates the strength of the United States and our international partners working across the globe to dismantle a critical cybercriminal forum.”

LeakBase was a central hub in the cybercrime ecosystem, allowing its 142,000 forum users to sell information from stolen databases, according to Europol. Its “stealer logs” included credit and debit card numbers, banking account and routing information, usernames and associated passwords.

Notably, one of the underground forum’s rules prohibited the sale or publication of any data related to Russia.

Operation Leak led to 13 arrests, 32 searches and interviews with 33 suspects, Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, told The Record news outlet.

“Together with our partners, we are sending a message that no criminal is truly anonymous online and removing an easy point of access to stolen information on American businesses and individuals,” he said in a statement. “The FBI will continue to defend the homeland by dismantling the key services that cybercriminals use to facilitate their attacks.”