The French police have arrested five individuals believed to be key operators behind the notorious BreachForum cybercrime forum, which has gained notoriety for facilitating the sale and distribution of stolen data affecting millions.
According to reports from Le Parisien, the arrests were made during a coordinated operation on Monday, executed by the cybercrime unit (BL2C) of the Paris police department. The authorities conducted simultaneous raids across multiple locations including Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Maritime, and Réunion.
Among those arrested are four individuals known by their online aliases: “ShinyHunters,” “Hollow,” “Noct,” and “Depressed.” Rumors of additional arrests had previously swirled around another prominent hacker, “IntelBroker,” who was reportedly detained by French authorities back in February 2025.
The BreachForums has undergone several iterations since its inception, acting as a hub where cybercriminals engage in the trade of stolen data, often targeting organizations globally. In 2023, the original BreachForums was shut down following the arrest of its operator, Conor Brian FitzPatrick, also known as “Pompompurin.” This closure led to the emergence of BreachForums v2, which was aided by hackers including ShinyHunters, Baphomet, and IntelBroker.
The arrested individuals are implicated in several high-profile data breaches affecting French entities such as Boulanger, SFR, and the French Football Federation. Notably, a breach against France Travail impacted sensitive information pertaining to approximately 43 million individuals.
IntelBroker previously garnered significant attention for his involvement in breaches of high-profile organizations including Europol and General Electric. ShinyHunters has similarly established a reputation linked to major data breaches against various companies, including Salesforce and PowerSchool.
Despite these arrests, BreachForums v2 was taken offline in April 2025 following a breach purportedly due to a MyBB zero-day vulnerability. The forum has not resumed operations since then.