Europol and German law enforcement agencies have successfully dismantled Cracked and Nulled, two of the largest hacker forums in the world, as part of Operation Talent. Authorities arrested two suspects in Spain and confiscated 17 servers associated with these platforms, which had a total of more than 10 million users. The special operation, conducted from January 28 to 30, was aimed at dismantling cybercrime hubs that facilitated password theft, attacks using stolen credentials, malware distribution, and the use of hacking tools.
Although the forums contained some discussion of ethical hacking, Cracked and Nulled primarily functioned as marketplaces for cybercriminals. The platforms provided access to hacking tools, including artificial intelligence-based exploits and vulnerability scanners, “configurations” for attacks using stolen credentials that allowed for massive password brute-force attacks, “combo lists” with stolen usernames and passwords, as well as malware, exploits, and cracked software. Europol called these forums “one-stop shops” for cybercriminals to buy and sell stolen data, malware, and hacking services.
The operation involved law enforcement agencies from the United States, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Australia, and Romania. During the raids, seven premises in different countries were searched, more than 50 electronic devices were seized for forensic examination, €300,000 in cash and cryptocurrency was confiscated, and 12 domains associated with the platforms were disabled. Among the services shut down were SellIX, a financial processor used for cybercrime transactions, and StarkRDP, a Windows RDP hosting provider that was advertised on forums.
As part of the operation, the FBI seized several domains, including cracked[.]io, nulled[.]to, starkrdp[.]io, mysellix[.]io, and sellix[.]io. The agency redirected the domains to pages with seizure notices hosted on servers controlled by the FBI. An announcement appeared on the seized sites: “This website, as well as information about the site's customers and victims, has been seized by international law enforcement partners.”
The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the German Federal Criminal Office, confirmed that the confiscated data includes email addresses, IP addresses and communication logs of forum users, which will be used for further international investigations. The two arrested suspects were detained by the Spanish National Police in Valencia. The Cracked.io administration confirmed the closure in a statement on Telegram: "Now that everyone has more clarity on the situation, Cracked.io has been seized as part of Operation Talent, the specific reasons have not yet been disclosed. A really sad day for our community."
The liquidation of Cracked and Nulled was one of the largest international operations to shut down cybercrime forums in recent years and is likely to have a significant impact on the underground hacker community.
via Bleeping Computer
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