RaidForums
{{Short description|Defunct cybercrime internet forum}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = RaidForums
| logo = RaidForums_Website_Logo.png
| logo_size =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| screenshot = RaidForums.com Domain Seizure notice screenshot.png
| screenshot_size =
| screenshot_alt = RaidForums.com domain seizure notice in June 2022
| collapsible =
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| background =
| caption = Domain seizure notice on RaidForums.com
| company_type =
| type = Internet forum
| language = English
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| founded =
| dissolved = {{end date and age|2022|4|12}}
| predecessor =
| successor = BreachForums
| headquarters =
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| country_of_origin = United Kingdom
| area_served =
| author =
| founder = Diogo Santos Coelho, also known by his screen name "Omnipotent"
| key_people =
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| url = {{Official URL}}
| ipv6 =
| advertising = Yes
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Optional
| num_users = 530,000 at time of shutdown
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|2015}}
| current_status = Seized by the FBI
| native_clients =
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}}
RaidForums was an English-language black hat hacking internet forum founded in 2015. The website facilitated the discussion of a variety of hacking topics and was a notable distributor of various data breaches, hacking tools, and pornography until its closure and seizure by law enforcement authorities in 2022. The website was monetized via advertisements and through a tiered membership program where members with higher tiers would receive elevated access to the forum and its contents.{{Cite web |last=Lyngaas |first=Sean |date=2022-04-12 |title=FBI and international partners seize control of popular hacking forum |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/12/politics/raidforums-seizure/index.html |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419000413/https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/12/politics/raidforums-seizure/index.html |url-status=live }}
History
RaidForums began in 2015 as a platform for Twitch raiders.{{Cite web |date=2021-01-13 |title=What It's Like to Run a Hacking Forum: A Conversation With RaidForums Owner Omnipotent |url=https://therecord.media/what-its-like-to-run-a-hacking-forum-a-conversation-with-raidforums-owner-omnipotent |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=The Record by Recorded Future |language=en |archive-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531225941/https://therecord.media/what-its-like-to-run-a-hacking-forum-a-conversation-with-raidforums-owner-omnipotent/ |url-status=live }}
Domain seizure
The domain and its contents were seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 12, 2022, after a month of downtime, in collaboration with the United States Secret Service, the United States Department of Justice, and a variety of other national and international law enforcement agencies.{{Cite web |title=RaidForums Gets Raided, Alleged Admin Arrested |last=Krebs |first=Brian |date=April 12, 2022 |author-link=Brian Krebs |url=https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/04/raidforums-get-raided-alleged-admin-arrested/ |access-date=2022-04-19 |language=en-US |archive-date=April 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418235407/https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/04/raidforums-get-raided-alleged-admin-arrested/ |url-status=live }}
Administration
The website was allegedly founded in 2015 by a then 14-year-old Portuguese national, Diogo Santos Coelho, under the screen name "Omnipotent", who was arrested on January 31, 2022, in the United Kingdom.{{Cite web|title=United States of America v. Diogo Santos Coelho|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/press-release/file/1493606/|access-date=April 18, 2022|website=justice.gov|archive-date=August 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830233358/https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/press-release/file/1493606|url-status=live}} His arrest occurred pending several years of investigation after several of his devices were searched under warrant at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in June 2018, suggesting he was the owner and primary administrator "Omnipotent". According to hackread.com, an administrator under the screen name "Jaw" & "souls" announced the seizure officially on the forum's public Telegram channel, and redirected subscribers of the channel to RaidForums' backup domain rf.to
Impact
At the time of its closure in 2022, the forum had over 530,000 registered users and was one of the most prolific and easily accessible clearnet illicit hacking forums.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-25 |title=Hacking forum Raidforums.com allegedly seized by authorities |url=https://www.hackread.com/hacking-forum-raidforums-com-seized-by-authorities/ |access-date=2022-04-19 |language=en-US |archive-date=April 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425015205/https://www.hackread.com/hacking-forum-raidforums-com-seized-by-authorities/ |url-status=live }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- [https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-leads-seizure-one-world-s-largest-hacker-forums-and-arrests-administrator U.S. Department of Justice indictment]
Category:Domain name seizures by United States
Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2022
Category:Internet properties established in 2015
{{Website-stub}}