Europol dismantles cybercrime forums Cracked and Nulled

A Europol operation, led by German authorities and involving law enforcement agencies from eight countries, including the National Police and Guardia Civil of Spain, has led to the dismantling of Cracked and Nulled, two of the world's largest cybercrime forums.

The operation took place from 28-30 January and resulted in 2 suspects arrested, 7 properties searched, 17 servers,  more than 50 electronic devices seized and around €300,000 in cash and cryptocurrencies seized. Other associated services were also dismantled, including a financial processor called Sellix, used by Cracked, and a hosting service called StarkRDP, promoted on both platforms and run by the same suspects.

It is estimated that the two platforms had more than 10 million users in total, providing a quick entry point for cybercriminals. These sites functioned primarily as marketplaces for illegal goods and cybercrime-as-a-service, such as stolen data, malware or hacking tools. Investigators estimate that the suspects made one million euros in criminal profits.

These two forums also offered AI-based tools and scripts to automatically search for security vulnerabilities and optimise attacks. Advanced phishing techniques were frequently developed and shared on these platforms, also using AI to create more personalised and convincing messages.