The American authorities, the French authorities confirm the arrest of breachforum pirates

The American and French authorities have confirmed the arrests of five pirates accused of being behind several major hacks and to be part of a notorious cybercrime forum.

The United States Ministry of Justice Thursday announcement THE charge From British National Kai West, 25, accusing him of being a “series pirate” known as Intelbroker. American authorities allege that West is behind “a hacking program of several years”, which caused more than $ 25 million in damages targeting more than 40 victims, including a telecommunications company, a municipal health care provider and an Internet service provider.

In the case of the health care provider, the DoJ alleys that West has tried to sell personal information from the sensitive patient, including names, social security numbers, birth dates, sexes, health plan and employers.

According to the doj, West was the leader of a hacking group known as “Cybern (——)”, referring to a racist insult, which frequented “a particular internet forum”. Although the doj did not name the forum, the complaint includes details that reference Breachforumswhich has already been closed by a coalition of international law enforcement organizations in 2023 and 2024.

The Doj’s press release said West had been arrested in France earlier in February and is now faced with extradition with the United States.

According to the complaint Against West, the Cybern group (——) included four other people that the American authorities did not appoint.

These four people seem to have been arrested in France earlier this week.

Wednesday, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccauau said in a press release This French police arrested four people suspected of directing violations and being part of a collective called “shinyhuters”.

“This week’s arrests have targeted people suspected of being the main administrators of the site and raised the hope of its permanent closure,” said Beccuau, according to a translation of the press release.

The prosecutor also confirmed West, appointed in the press release only as an intelbroker, had been arrested in France in February, which aligned themselves with what the American authorities announced on Thursday.

When he was contacted to comment, a spokesperson for the French prosecutor’s office returned Techcrunch to his published declaration.

In response to a question on the four anonymous co-conspirators, the spokesman for the US Ministry of Justice, Nicholas Biase, said that he could not comment on the “undeveloped individuals” and refused to clarify in a follow-up email.

Breachforums was one of the best known hacking forums on the Internet, where cybercriminals have sold hacking tools, as well as announced, sold and exchanged data stolen from companies, as 23 andAnd many others.

In 2023, the American federal authorities seized and close violationsthree months after the judgment of its administrator, Conor Brian Fitzpatrickalso known as “Pompompurin”. The site then relaunched, but It was seized and closed in 2024.

West is accused of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit metal fraud, access to a protected computer to obtain information and wire fraud.