Security News > 2021 > March > Someone Is Hacking Cybercrime Forums and Leaking User Data
Since the beginning of this year, an unknown threat actor has been hacking cybercrime forums and leaking user data publicly or offering it for sale.
In January, a threat actor announced on underground forum Raid Forums that they breached Verified, an established Russian-language cybercrime forum.
In February, the administrator account of cybercrime forum Crdclub was hacked, which allowed the threat actor behind the compromise to lure forum customers into using a fraudulent money transfer service and divert an unknown amount of money from the forum.
"Users on the Exploit forum are discussing moving away from using emails to register on forums as recent disruption efforts may have increased exposure of their online activities. Others are claiming that the database leaked by the attackers is either old or incomplete," threat intelligence company Flashpoint notes.
Maza, an invite-only cybercrime forum active since 2003, was displaying a data breach notification on March 3, most likely the work of the hacker who managed to take over the forum.
To date, no one appears to have claimed responsibility for the breaches, but the perpetrator's actions could provide security researchers with increased visibility into who is using these cybercrime forums.