France issues press statement about arrest of ShinyHunters members

Posted on by Dissent

French version.

The English version is below. It’s interesting to note that IntelBroker was described as a British national who was arrested in France in February, 2025 and detained in pre-trial detention.

The following is a machine translation and may contain errors: PARIS PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE JUDICIAL COURT THE PROSECUTOR OF THE REPUBLIC Freedom Equality Brotherhood Paris, June 23, 2025 Press release As part of a judicial information file, the investigation of which is entrusted to the brigade for combating the cybercrime, four people were arrested on Monday, June 23, 2025. Under the collective name of "ShinyHunters", they are suspected of being responsible for the Breachforums cybercriminal forum. They are also suspected to have committed cyber attacks of a very high degree of technical complexity, to the detriment of many victims in France and abroad. BreachForums.st , a large cybercriminal global marketplace, constituted the first place of exchange and resale stolen computer data and fraudulent access to information systems. This was a forum English-speaking, accessible on the clearweb, which had several hundred thousand users and benefited from a very high visibility in the field of cybersecurity. In particular, it had been used to disseminate personal data stolen during large-scale cyberattacks committed in France. The section for the fight against cybercrime of the Paris prosecutor's office, had opened in August 2024 a preliminary investigation based on the suspicion that several directors would be French. A British national using the IntelBroker pseudonym had been arrested in France in February 2025. He was suspected of having exercised the role of temporary administrator of the forum and of having committed cyberattacks himself important. A judicial information had then been opened. This man has been indicted for administrative of an online platform allowing illicit transactions in organized gangs and attacks on processing systems automated organized gang data collection. He was remanded in custody. The site Breachforums.st had been targeted by two US judicial operations in 2023 and 2024, then was quickly returned online. This week's arrests have targeted people suspected of being the main administrators of the site, and allow us to hope for its lasting closure. The computer elements entered will be exploited and are likely to significantly advance many ongoing investigations. The identification of the suspects was made possible thanks to the police and judicial cooperation with our partners foreigners, especially the United States. Special thanks to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), whose representatives I personally received, for the high quality of the exchanges and the finesse of the information brought to our attention, reflecting a high degree of mutual trust. The investigations continue under the direction of the investigating judge. Laura BECCUAU, Public Prosecutor Press contact: 06 07 18 42 28


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Category: Commentaries and Analyses