The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in collaboration with French authorities, has taken control of BreachForums — a notorious data-leak portal used by cybercriminals to extort Salesforce customers. The coordinated international operation targeted the domain infrastructure of the site, effectively removing one of the most active public hubs for trading stolen data and announcing corporate extortion campaigns.
The seizure marks a significant escalation in global law enforcement efforts to dismantle cyber extortion networks by removing their core infrastructure instead of pursuing individual actors alone.
“We will not reward those responsible for their illegal actions,” said a statement attributed to the FBI’s investigative unit following the operation.
The forum, once infamous for hosting sensitive corporate data leaks, is now replaced with an official seizure notice bearing the FBI and the French National Police insignias.
Seizure Follows Escalating Extortion Attempts Targeting Salesforce Clients
The coordinated takedown came after cybercriminals linked to the ShinyHunters collective launched a wave of extortion attacks against organizations using Salesforce platforms. The attackers claimed to possess stolen data from Salesforce clients, including records allegedly numbering in the hundreds of millions. These threats were publicized through BreachForums, where ransom demands were made alongside countdowns to data exposure.
Law enforcement agencies acted after investigators traced several of the extortion posts and communications back to BreachForums’ infrastructure. The FBI, working with the Paris Prosecutor’s Office and French cybercrime investigators, successfully gained control over the portal’s domain and backend servers.
Public DNS records on October 9 confirmed the forum’s transfer of ownership to U.S. and French authorities, effectively dismantling its online presence. Investigators also obtained access to historical data, including administrative logs, escrow transactions, and communications between site operators and cybercriminals.
A message posted by the ShinyHunters group after the seizure acknowledged the law enforcement takeover, stating that “the forum’s backups, servers, and escrow systems have been permanently compromised.” The post ended with the line: “The era of forums is over,” signaling a likely retreat from public leak marketplaces.
“The era of forums is over,” wrote the ShinyHunters group after the FBI takeover, admitting its systems were infiltrated and backups lost.
Law Enforcement Links BreachForums Shutdown to Salesforce Extortion Campaign
The BreachForums domain seizure is directly tied to ongoing investigations into attempts to blackmail Salesforce customers. Threat actors had begun publishing ransom notes claiming to possess data belonging to organizations using Salesforce systems. Victims were given specific payment deadlines, after which data would allegedly be sold or released publicly.
Salesforce has maintained that its corporate systems remain secure and uncompromised. In an official statement, the company clarified that no direct intrusion occurred within its infrastructure. Instead, attackers likely targeted misconfigured third-party integrations or client-side systems. Salesforce further confirmed that it is assisting affected customers with post-breach response and risk assessment efforts.
The extortion campaign targeted organizations across multiple industries, including healthcare, logistics, retail, and finance. Stolen datasets reportedly included customer contact records, support interactions, and business analytics information derived from integrated Salesforce environments.
Law enforcement sources have indicated that intelligence gathered from the BreachForums seizure could aid in identifying members of the ShinyHunters group and other associated operators responsible for similar extortion schemes in recent years.
BreachForums Seizure Signals Strategic Shift in Tackling Cyber Extortion Networks
The takedown represents a broader strategic shift in law enforcement tactics — focusing on eliminating the infrastructure that enables extortion rather than pursuing each threat actor individually. By controlling BreachForums’ domains, authorities have disrupted the primary outlet used by cybercriminals to post stolen data and pressure victims into paying ransom.
Investigators are now analyzing forensic evidence collected from the servers to trace cryptocurrency transactions and administrator communications. Officials expect the data to reveal new insights into how extortion groups coordinate operations across encrypted platforms, proxy servers, and cryptocurrency wallets.
Cybersecurity analysts have compared this action to earlier international crackdowns on Genesis Market and RaidForums — both forums that were dismantled using similar domain seizure strategies. The BreachForums case reinforces an emerging model where cross-border cooperation and infrastructure takedowns serve as the main tools for undermining cybercrime operations.
Experts caution, however, that these disruptions are rarely permanent. BreachForums operators and their affiliates may attempt to migrate to the dark web, decentralized networks, or encrypted messaging channels. Despite this, the forum’s loss of reputation and infrastructure is expected to delay ongoing extortion efforts and scatter its user base.
Authorities Prepare for Follow-Up Investigations and Potential Reemergence Attempts
While the FBI now controls the main BreachForums domain, the investigation remains ongoing. Authorities are monitoring darknet chatter and newly registered domains for possible mirror sites or spinoff forums. Intelligence-sharing between the FBI, Europol, and national agencies continues to focus on identifying the forum’s core administrators, developers, and financial backers.
Cybercrime experts have warned that smaller, invitation-only communities could appear as replacements, hosting the same kind of illicit content and extortion operations. However, the loss of public visibility and escrow capabilities significantly reduces these groups’ ability to operate at scale.
Law enforcement agencies have emphasized that the BreachForums seizure is not an isolated action but part of a sustained effort to disrupt the global ransomware and extortion economy. The FBI’s statement confirmed that more domain-level seizures and server takedowns are expected in the months ahead, targeting infrastructure associated with ransomware data-leak operations.
The ShinyHunters group’s admission that its infrastructure was compromised suggests that the investigation may soon lead to arrests or further indictments. For now, the seizure stands as one of the most significant disruptions to the public extortion landscape since the RaidForums takedown.
