Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known as “Pompompurin,” has been arrested by the FBI at his New York home for his alleged role in the BreachForums online hacking community. Fitzpatrick, who admitted to owning and operating the site, was charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud. BreachForums was created by Fitzpatrick after the FBI seized a similar hacking site named RaidForums that also sold leaked information. The hacker has been implicated in several breaches, with many of them targeting the FBI. In 2021, Pompompurin took responsibility for a hack that sent out thousands of fake cybersecurity warnings from the FBI’s email address.
The BreachForums website is now offline, per reports on cybersecurity news websites such as KrebsOnSecurity and BleepingComputer, and the FBI agent involved in the case seized the site’s domain names on the day of Fitzpatrick’s arrest. The site was infamous for selling data stolen from a wide range of companies and institutions, and the FBI believes Fitzpatrick made up to tens of thousands of dollars on the site, which had a thriving user base.
The suspect was also linked to the breach of the FBI’s information-sharing program called Infragard, which aims to raise awareness about physical and digital threats to government organizations and independent companies. The hacking forum was also recently involved in the breach of DC Health Link.
Fitzpatrick was released on a $300,000 bond on Thursday and will appear in a Virginia court on March 24th. The FBI has been cracking down on hacking communities like BreachForums in recent years, and this arrest is the latest breakthrough in the agency’s efforts to reduce cybercrime.
The investigation into BreachForums and Fitzpatrick has been ongoing for some time, and it is likely that more details about his alleged activities will emerge over the coming weeks and months. Cybersecurity experts are applauding the FBI for its efforts and highlighting the importance of cracking down on hackers who profit from stolen data and cause significant damage to companies and organizations worldwide. The FBI has warned that anyone caught involved in similar hacking activities will face severe consequences for their actions.
