FBI Seizes Internet Domains Associated with Major Cybercrime Ring; 17M Victims

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A multi-jurisdictional operation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and several other law enforcement agencies has resulted in several well-known internet domains being seized that were a part of a major cybercrime ring responsible for hacking and stealing credentials from digital marketplaces.

As of Wednesday, the Cracked.io and Nulled.to internet forums – long known as havens for threat actors who engaged in password theft, software piracy, and credential-stuffing attacks – now redirect to severs controlled by the FBI, with visitors now receiving a landing page with a graphic message saying that the sites have been seized by a coalition of international law enforcement partners, which includes Europol  and representatives of Australia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain.

In addition, several other domains were seized by authorities, including SellIX – which enabled cyber crooks to create virtual storefronts for selling illegal goods – and StarkRDP, which is a Microsoft Windows-based remote desktop hosting service that was purportedly utilized by hackers to carry out their attacks anonymously.

Despite hosting legitimate discussions about hacking, Cracked and Nulled had also been known for a seedy underbelly that supported cybercriminals, making lists of stolen usernames and passwords, cracked software licenses, and automated credential-stuffing attack tools available for sale to users in an illicit marketplace.

Thanks to the information and services made available by these now shut-down sites, threat actors have carried out major data breaches over the years that have impacted millions – both in terms of consumers and businesses – all over the world.

Wednesday’s seizure of Cracked, Nulled, SellIX, and StarkRDP represents a strong effort on the part of global authorities to dismantle cybercrime rings; this action goes hand-in-hand with last year’s seizure by another international law enforcement partnership of BreachForums, a message board where threat actors bought and sold hacked and stolen data, compromised credentials, and other illegal goods and services.

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