U.S. and French authorities have confirmed the arrests of 5 hackers accused of being behind a number of main hacks and being a part of a infamous cybercrime discussion board.
On Thursday, the U.S. Division of Justice introduced the indictment of British nationwide Kai West, 25, accusing him of being “a serial hacker” often called IntelBroker. U.S. authorities allege West is behind “a years-long hacking scheme,” which brought on greater than $25 million in damages by concentrating on greater than 40 victims, together with a telecoms firm, a municipal healthcare supplier, and an Web service supplier.
Within the case of the healthcare supplier, the DOJ alleges West tried to promote delicate affected person’s private info, together with names, Social Safety numbers, dates of delivery, genders, well being plan and employer info.
Per the DOJ, West was the chief of a hacking group often called “CyberN[——]”, referring to a racist slur, which frequented “a specific web discussion board.” Whereas the DOJ didn’t identify the discussion board, the grievance consists of particulars that reference BreachForums, which was beforehand shut down by a coalition of worldwide legislation enforcement companies in 2023 and 2024.
The DOJ press launch stated West was arrested in France earlier in February and is now dealing with extradition to the USA.
In line with the grievance in opposition to West, the CyberN[——] group included 4 different people whom U.S. authorities haven’t named.
These 4 people seem to have been arrested in France earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated in an announcement that French police arrested 4 folks suspected of operating BreachForums, and of being a part of a collective referred to as “ShinyHunters.”
“This week’s arrests focused the people suspected of being the positioning’s principal directors, and raised hopes of its everlasting closure,” stated Beccuau, in response to a translation of the press launch.
The prosecutor additionally confirmed West, solely named within the assertion as IntelBroker, had been arrested in France in February, which aligns with what U.S. authorities introduced on Thursday.
When reached for remark, a spokesperson for the French prosecutor’s workplace referred information.killnetswitch to its printed assertion.
In response to a query concerning the 4 unnamed co-conspirators, U.S. Justice Division spokesperson Nicholas Biase stated he couldn’t touch upon “uncharged people,” and declined to make clear in a follow-up e mail.
BreachForums was one of the well-known hacking boards on the web, the place cybercriminals offered hacking instruments, in addition to marketed, offered, and traded knowledge stolen from corporations, similar to 23andMe, and lots of others.
In 2023, U.S. federal authorities seized and shut down BreachForums, three months after arresting its administrator, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also referred to as “Pompompurin.” The positioning then re-launched, however it was seized and shut down once more in 2024.
West is charged with conspiracy to commit laptop intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accessing a protected laptop to acquire info, and wire fraud.
