On Wednesday, Russian police arrested the alleged administrator of the cybercrime forum LeakBase, according to the state-owned news agency TASS. LeakBase was described by the U.S. Department of Justice as one of the world’s largest online forums for cybercriminals, used for sharing hacking tools and stolen passwords.
Earlier this month, U.S. authorities and Europol announced they had shut down LeakBase’s official site and seized its database, which contained information from more than 142,000 members and over 215,000 messages.
According to TASS, the alleged administrator and creator of LeakBase was a resident of Taganrog, a coastal city in southern Russia. The individual’s name was not released. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest. A Europol spokesperson stated that the agency does not cooperate with Russian authorities and was not involved in the reported arrest.
LeakBase was launched in 2021 and hosted a vast archive of hacked databases. This archive included hundreds of millions of usernames and passwords, along with banking account details, routing information, and credit card numbers.
The international operation against LeakBase involved law enforcement agents from 14 countries. This collaboration resulted in the execution of search warrants, arrests, and interviews across several nations, including Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In total, there were 13 arrests made in connection with the takedown.