In a significant escalation of the ongoing hacking wars, BreachForums, the hacking forum operated by ShinyHunters, has fallen victim to a devastating data breach.
Reports indicate that a rival hacking forum successfully breached BreachForums’ security measures and publicly leaked a database containing the personal information of approximately 4,700 members.
The incident comes days after the notorious cybercrime forum Exposed reportedly faced a hack and defacement orchestrated by its fierce competitor BreachForums.
Exposed was in the cybersecurity news recently for leaking the details of another breached data forum RaidForums. The motive behind BreachForums’ alleged hack remains uncertain.
Attack on BreachForums
The attack on BreachForums came to light when the rival hacking forum dumped the stolen database online, making it accessible to the public. The details were posted on another dark web forum called BlackForums.
Alon Gal, the Co-Founder and CTO of cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, verified the authenticity of the compromised database and expressed his concern over the intensifying nature of these hacking conflicts.
“I verified the authenticity of the database, and it’s legit. These hacking wars are becoming very intense,” Gal posted on LinkedIn on Monday.
The breach and subsequent data dump have raised serious privacy and security concerns, as the compromised database likely contains sensitive information about BreachForums’ members.
Although the data was posted on BlackForums, there is no confirmation yet that they are the perpetrators, Alon Gal told The Cyber Express.
It is feared that the exposed data could be exploited by cybercriminals for various illicit activities, including identity theft, phishing attempts, and targeted attacks.
Days before the latest incident, BreachForums executed a hack and defacement campaign on its competitor cybercrime forum Exposed.
Exposed attacked at the cusp of closure
The attack on cybercrime forum Exposed, which was in the cybersecurity news for leaking the details of RaidForums, reportedly occurred on June 15. The details came to light when Alon Gal posted the details on LinkedIn.
According to the post, BreachForums allegedly infiltrated Exposed.vc’s servers and leaving behind a mocking message designed to resemble a law enforcement seizure notice.
The message clearly aimed at taunting Exposed.vc’s operators, brazenly stated, “operators were castrated and face the death penalty.”
Simultaneously, the operators of Exposed.vc took to Telegram to confirm the hack, but their announcement raised eyebrows due to its unconventional nature.
In a bizarre message, the Exposed.vc team admitted being hacked but hinted at the possibility of their own involvement in the incident.
Comments and discussions on Telegram groups indicate that speculations have begun to circulate that the operators might have orchestrated the hack as a face-saving measure, potentially due to an imminent shutdown of the forum.
BreachForums, Exposed, and the long tale
The update comes hot on the heels of Exposed’s announcement that it is now seeking a new owner. The forum’s administrators cited a lack of time to maintain the platform and expressed a desire to find someone capable of responsibly managing it.
The announcement coincided with the emergence of BreachForums, spearheaded by a former member of Breached known as ‘Baphomet.’
Impotent, another member of Exposed, elaborated on the decision, stating that he had found a long-awaited project and wanted to pass on the forum to someone who would maintain it in its current state.
This announcement comes shortly after Exposed publicly leaked a significant database from the infamous RaidForums, a gathering place for hackers to share stolen data and boost their reputation.
RaidForums was seized and its administrator, Omnipotent, was arrested in April 2022 during an international operation.
Following the takedown of RaidForums, many of its members migrated to Breached/BreachForums. However, Breached met a similar fate in March 2023 when its owner, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known as “Pompompurin,” was arrested by the FBI.
This series of events has created a void in the dark web data forum landscape, leading to the emergence of new alternatives such as BreachForums.
Baphomet, assuming the role of Breached administrator after Pompompurin’s arrest, has been posting about launching a new forum.
They have called on former Breached members to contact them through the forum to restore their ranks and provided instructions on how to verify their accounts.
Baphomet previously announced the shutdown of Breached/BreachForums in March, but later confirmed that the migration process was ongoing despite some issues.