This week, the individual suspected of hacking the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2021 was detained by US law enforcement officials. Conor Brian Fitzpatrick was detained by FBI officials on Wednesday on suspicion of running BreachForums, according to Krebs on Security (via The Verge). According to Brian Krebs, the administrator of the website, “Pompompurin,” is accountable for or associated with some of the most well-known breaches in recent memory, including numerous events involving the FBI.
Pompompurin claimed responsibility in 2021 for breaking into the organisation’s email servers and disseminating hundreds of fictitious cybersecurity alerts. Pompompurin is also connected to the FBI’s InfraGard network breach in 2022, which resulted in the sale of the contact details of more than 80,000 of its users. Pompompurin is also linked to the 2022 Twitter data leak and the 2021 Robinhood hack, which resulted in the compromising of 7 million customers’ personal information.
One of the FBI agents involved in the arrest alleges in a sworn declaration that Fitzpatrick admitted to being the proprietor of BreachForums and identified himself as Pompompurin. The FBI raided and shut down RaidForums last year, and the site emerged from its ashes. BreachForums is still operational as of the now. A user by the name of Baphomet declared, “I think it’s safe to assume [Pompompurin] won’t be coming back, so I’ll be taking ownership of the forum.” I hold the majority, if not all, of the access required to safeguard BF’s users and infrastructure. On March 24, Fitzpatrick will appear before a federal judge.
