BreachForums Shuts Down After Admin’s Arrest

An administrator of the notorious BreachForums website has announced the forum was taken down following the arrest of its alleged founder days ago.

Writing in a Telegram message within the “Breach Forums” channel on Tuesday, the BreachForums admin known as “baphomet” confirmed he would be closing the site.

“I will be taking down the forum, as I believe we can assume that nothing is safe anymore,” baphomet wrote. “I know that everyone wants the forum up, but there is no value in short-term gain for what will likely be a long-term loss by propping up Breached as it is.”

At the same time, the BreachForums admin said the move might only be temporary and that they will set up a new Telegram group for people interested in following up with BreachForums’ new endeavors.

“You are allowed to hate me and disagree with my decision, but I promise what is to come will be better for us all,” baphomet added. “Please give me 24 hours to get some rest and give thought to how we move on from here. I will be back online after that, and we will talk. I am going nowhere.”

Commenting on the news, security researchers at Flashpoint said the underground cybercrime community has traditionally demonstrated resilience, so it is plausible that BreachForums may return somehow.

“While an arrest or takedown can result in a short-term disruption, its activity will likely be replaced by some alternative,” the company wrote in Tuesday’s blog post. “baphomet’s latest message indicated that the forum will likely relaunch in another format, though it remains to be seen whether this will continue in the spirit of Raid or Breach, or be something new entirely.”

Read more on RaidForums here: RaidForums Hacker Marketplace Shut Down in Cross-Border Law Enforcement Operation

According to the Flashpoint post, threat actors will likely continue to target breached databases. What still needs to be determined is whether these attempts will occur via an alternative venue or require a new forum altogether.