Law enforcement seized the hacker forum LeakBase

LeakBase was a hacker forum launched in 2021 with backing from the ARES group. The forum served as a marketplace where threat actors traded databases, exploits, malware, and more. At the time of its takedown, the forum had around 142,000 registered users.

On March 4, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies seized two LeakBase domains, posting a notice stating that the forum's database, IP addresses, private messages, and other content would be used as evidence in future investigations. The day before the seizure, on March 3, authorities carried out roughly 100 operations targeting active forum users, conducting searches, arrests, and interrogations across the United States, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The forum's domains are now redirected to ns1.fbi.seized.gov and ns2.fbi.seized.gov, and the FBI has warned that any attempt to access, alter, or interfere with LeakBase will be treated as a criminal offense.

💬 Discuss