Hacker Den Raided, Containing Data Stolen from People Worldwide
Hacker Den Raided, Containing Data Stolen from People Worldwide
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - International law enforcement agencies have dismantled one of the world’s largest forums for trading stolen data used by thousands of cybercriminals. The forum named LeakBase was shut down following a global operation coordinated by Europol together with several law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The platform has long been known as a marketplace for data obtained from breaches, including leaked databases and “stealer logs”— archives of credentials such as emails and passwords stolen via information-stealing malware.
The forum, accessible on the open internet, allowed hackers to buy, sell, and exchange stolen data that were then used for various cybercrimes such as account hijacking, digital fraud, and even advanced cyberattacks.
Quoting Europol’s official site, the enforcement operation was conducted simultaneously on 3-4 March in multiple countries. Officers conducted arrests, house searches, and investigative actions against the forum’s most active users.
In total, around 100 law enforcement actions were carried out worldwide, including against 37 of the platform’s main users.
A day after the operation, authorities seized the forum’s domain and replaced it with an official notice page from the authorities, marking the end of the platform’s activity.
Since going live in 2021, LeakBase has rapidly grown into one of the world’s largest marketplaces for stolen data. By December 2025, the forum had more than 142,000 registered users, about 32,000 posts, and over 215,000 private messages between users.
In the investigation, authorities also seized the forum’s database containing millions of user activity records. The data allowed investigators to identify several suspects who previously felt secure operating under anonymity online.
Investigators were reportedly able to reach out to some suspects directly through the digital platform they had used to carry out their crimes.
Europol described the operation as a strong message to cybercriminals that there is no safe place on the internet to hide illicit activity.
Beyond enforcement, the operation also aimed to raise public awareness about the risks of data leakage. Information stolen from individuals or companies is often not lost but re-listed for sale on criminal forums and used for fraud, identity theft, and phishing attacks.
Therefore, authorities remind the public to strengthen personal data protection by using strong, unique passwords for each account and enabling multi-factor authentication.