International Law Enforcement Dismantles Major Cybercrime Forum LeakBase

A multinational operation led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol, involving law enforcement agencies from 14 countries, has successfully shut down LeakBase, a globally known cybercrime platform. The forum served as a central hub for hackers trading stolen data and attack tools, with over 142,000 registered users and more than 215,000 posts. The operation, conducted simultaneously from March 3rd to 4th, saw law enforcement agencies seize website servers and execute search warrants and make arrests in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The original website page has been replaced with an official seizure notice, informing visitors that the platform has been shut down and urging users to cooperate with the investigation.

A. Tysen Duva, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, stated that the operation effectively cut off a key avenue for cybercriminals to obtain sensitive personal information, banking credentials, and account login data, which is of great significance to global cybersecurity. Notably, the cryptocurrency sector has experienced frequent data breaches in the past year, including the theft of exchange account credentials, leaks of internal personnel information, and targeted social engineering attacks. On February 23rd, a trader known as TraderSZ revealed that a former Revolut employee had demanded a ransom by threatening to expose his identity and private information, and threatened to contact his family, highlighting the severe challenges facing digital identity security.