FBI seizes domains for infamous hacking forums that created 17 million US victims

The Department of Justice has announced the FBI has seized two infamous hacking forums that created 17 million American victims.

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The two hacking forums that are now in possession of the US government are Cracked.io and Nulled.to, which are known hubs for cybercriminal activity, with their main focus being password theft, cracked software sharing, credential theft, hacking tools, and data breaches. According to the press release from the DOJ, the domains for each of the forums were seized under Operation Talent, a multinational law enforcement operation that included authorities from the following countries: the United States, Italy, Spain, Europe, France, Greece, Australia, and Romania.

Banners have now been placed on both of the websites, stating the domains have been seized by international law enforcement partners. Cracked.io staff initially published an announcement on their Telegram channel where they wrote the problems users were reporting with the website, such as error messages being presented when loading was attempted, was related to a data center issue. However, an update from Cracked.io staff confirmed, "Cracked.io has been seized under operation talent with specific reasons being undisclosed."

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"Historically attackers can more easily obtain information and tools than defenders, giving them a perpetual advantage. Actions like this make it more expensive for cyber criminals to operate and ultimately this is a good thing. Lesser players who rely on purchasing tools and network access from these two marketplaces won't be able to get started, raising the barrier to entry for their criminal enterprise aspirations," said Evan Dornbush, former NSA cybersecurity expert in an email to TweakTown