Five Hackers Behind Notorious Data Selling Platform BreachForums Arrested

French authorities have dismantled a major cybercrime operation, arresting five hackers who operated BreachForum, one of the world’s largest marketplaces for stolen data, in coordinated raids across France.

French police initially suspected the cybercriminals operating BreachForum were Russian or hiding in Russian-speaking territories. However, investigations revealed that four French hackers in their twenties were arrested on Monday by specialist officers from the Cybercrime Brigade (BL2C) of the Paris police headquarters. A fifth suspect, known as “IntelBroker,” was arrested in February 2025 in a separate operation.

BreachForum served as “the historic crossroads between those who attack companies and those looking to buy fresh data,” according to Benoît Grunenwald, a cybersecurity expert at ESET. The platform emerged in March 2022 as a successor to RaidForums, which was shuttered by law enforcement earlier that year.

The arrested individuals operated under the pseudonyms “ShinyHunters,” “Hollow,” “Noct,” and “Depressed,” alongside “IntelBroker”.

These hackers are accused of conducting high-profile data breaches targeting major French organizations, including electronics retailer Boulanger, telecommunications provider SFR, employment agency France Travail, and the French Football Federation.

The arrests took place simultaneously across multiple French territories, including Hauts-de-Seine near Paris, Seine-Maritime in Normandy, and the overseas territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

This operation represents the culmination of an international investigation that began after the FBI arrested BreachForum’s original founder, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, known as “Pompompurin,” in March 2023.

Following Fitzpatrick’s arrest, the five French hackers assumed control of the platform, operating discreetly behind screens and pseudonyms. However, fears of exposure led them to suspend the website in April 2024 after IntelBroker’s arrest.

“It’s not surprising to find French people at the helm, as there is indeed an internal threat with cyber capabilities,” Grunenwald noted. The expert emphasized that these individuals possessed sophisticated technical skills necessary to earn trust in the anonymous world of cybercrime.

The arrests mark a significant blow to the global cybercrime ecosystem, where data breaches posted on underground forums increased by 43% in 2024.

BreachForum facilitated the sale of millions of stolen credentials and personal information, generating substantial revenue for cybercriminals worldwide.

With these key administrators now in custody, security experts expect BreachForum’s operations to significantly slow down, disrupting a major channel for cybercriminals seeking to monetize stolen data.

This operation demonstrates the growing effectiveness of international law enforcement cooperation in combating borderless cybercrime.

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