US government seizes one of the internet's largest hacker forums

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced it has seized LeakBase, a leading hacker forum that is home to more than a hundred thousand members.

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In a press release posted to the DOJ website, it states authorities seized LeakBase, a forum that was commonly used by cybercriminals to buy and sell stolen data, and tools used to commit cybercrimes. LeakBase had more than 142,000 members and more than 215,000 messages between the accounts. The DOJ goes on to describe the forum had an "enormous, continuously updated archive of hacked databases, including many from high-profile attacks, including hundreds of millions of account credentials."

Some of this data included information that was illegally obtained from "U.S. corporations and individuals, and offered credit and debit card numbers, banking account and routing information, usernames and associated passwords which could facilitate additional account takeovers, as well as other sensitive business and personally identifiable information."

The collapse of the forum was a coordinated effort from enforcement agents and officers in 14 countries around the world, including the United States. The operation was conducted on March 3 and 4, and involved a coordinated effort to conduct synchronized actions against LeakBase and its network of users. Not only did authorities post directly on the website that it was seized in the form of banners, but they also harvested its data, sent prevention messages to LeakBase members, executed search warrants, made arrests, and conducted interviews.

These actions were carried out across the following countries: United States, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom.