 | |
Type of site | Internet forum |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Predecessor(s) | RaidForums |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Founder(s) | Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known by his screen name "pompompurin" |
| URL |
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| Advertising | Yes |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Users | 336,800 at time of last shutdown[citation needed] |
| Launched | March 4, 2022 |
| Current status | Online |
BreachForums, sometimes referred to as Breached, is an English-language black hat–hacking crime forum. The website acted as an alternative and successor to RaidForums following its shutdown and seizure in 2022.[1] Like its predecessor, BreachForums allows for the discussion of various hacking topics and distributed data breaches, pornography, hacking tools and various other services.
On March 21, 2023, BreachForums was shut down following the arrest of the forum's owner, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick.[2] The forum was later reopened under the ownership of the hacking group ShinyHunters and previous BreachForums administrator "Baphomet". Fitzpatrick was later sentenced to 20 years supervised release. The site was again shut down and the domain seized on May 15, 2024, though the domain was back under the owner's control just hours later.
BreachForums, along with other dark web forums, uses DDoS-Guard for its web hosting services.[3] DDoS Guard has been criticized for hosting sites associated with illicit activities, and for its lack of action with abuse reports.[4]
- ^ "Justice Department Announces Arrest of the Founder of One of the World's Largest Hacker Forums and Disruption of Forum's Operation". United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
- ^ "BreachForums down, and will not be back". DataBreaches.net. June 14, 2023 [March 21, 2023]. Archived from the original on June 18, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
- ^ "Developing: BreachForums down, ShinyHunters' and forum Telegram channels deleted? – DataBreaches.Net". June 10, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Kolomychenko, Maria (January 29, 2021). Igumenov, Valery (ed.). "'Remove this infection from your network': The small Russian company that 'saved' Parler has other, far more odious clients". Meduza. Translated by Kevin Rothrock. Retrieved February 9, 2021.