Introduction
Ever wondered how shady businesses launch DDoS attacks or economic espionage on their competitors? Or how do scammers procure credit card and bank account details to commit financial fraud? Well, they do so on the Hacker forums, which are basically platforms where the dark forces interact to execute nefarious actions. Also, these are platforms where pro hackers sell data and resources that are deemed necessary to launch cyberattacks.
Top Darknet Forums
Now, while you might not want to be a professional hacker, scammer, or shady competitor, there is the sheer need to know if your company’s data has been leaked. More so, if you are in charge of PCI DSS and GDPR compliance or responsible for your organization’s cybersecurity. In that case, you’d want to keep an eye on the following five hacker forums.
DaMaGeLab
DaMaGeLab, later rebranded as XSS is one of the most popular hacker forums out there but mind you, all the interaction on this platform happens in the Russian language. The platform ran into trouble because its members were allegedly selling Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) and when the media backlash began, the platform banned that. So, the administrator of XSS tried to wash it off by trying to position itself as a knowledge-sharing platform that has explicitly banned RaaS, however you really need to know the Russian language to get a clearer picture of it.
RaidForums
This used to be one of the biggest marketplaces for stolen financial data like credit cards, bank account details, and other personal data. It had over a million users and several millions worth of transactions taking place on it. However, Europol took it down after intense research and a very comprehensive operation involving authorities from the US, UK, Sweden, Romania, Portugal, and Germany was carried out. These combined forces took down the forum by having its founder arrested.
CRYPTBB
Due to the fallout of so many dark web forums, the geniuses behind CRYPTBB came up with the unique concept of interviewing potential members. The ones that passed the interview were taken in and the main criterion was their individual experience on the dark web. So, it isn’t for the wannabes or newbies who’d qualify as potential snitches.
Freehacks
This forum is the Skillshare or Mindvalley for hackers, but it’s not all about knowledge. The platform has several free resources that can be used to launch various forms of cyberattacks like Botnet, password cracking, DDoS, and much more. It’s one of those places that can literally make cybercrime seem so easy that you might actually get lured into committing it.
Nulled
This is more like Facebook, Reddit, and Wiki combined for hackers wanting to connect, network, discuss, and stay up to date about the darker side of the cyber world. It is currently one of the largest networks with a membership of over 3 million users.
Final Takeaway
Besides the above-mentioned hacker forums, there are tens of others operating out there and promoting cybercrime. It is not easy to stay informed by being on all of them, so a more efficient solution would be to remain active in the top five. Wired for example lists AlphaBay again as a rising star. This is inevitable for those in charge of an organization’s security because you don’t want your company’s data records to be listed on one of these. Unfortunately, it is not possible to monitor all the hacker forums manually. That is why we recommend using our Darknet monitoring service. Technical details can be found here.
Leave a Reply