- The FBI confiscated the domains of the RAMP cybercrime forum on clearnet and Tor
- The operator confirmed the loss of the forum, calling it a destruction of years of work.
- The seizure likely exposed user data, putting the identification and prosecution of cybercriminals at risk.
The FBI has taken over the infamous RAMP underground hacking forum, used to advertise different malware and hacking services, including ransomware.
One of the organization’s operators confirmed the news in a different forum, saying that the police operation destroyed years of hard work. It operated two domains, one on clearnet and another on the Tor network, both of which were seized.
The clearnet version has been defaced and now displays the usual FBI banner: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation has seized RAMP.”
The FBI remains silent
“This action has been taken in coordination with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice,” the sign reads.
At the time of writing, the clearnet website was not accessible at all and instead returned an error.
On XSS, an independent hacking forum, a user alias “Stallman”, who claims to have been one of the RAMP operators, confirmed that access to the forum was lost:
“I regret to inform you that law enforcement has taken control of the Ramp forum,” they said. “This event has destroyed years of my work building the freest forum in the world, and although I hoped this day would never come, I always knew in my heart that it was possible. It is a risk we all take.”
At press time, there was no official confirmation from the FBI, but the domain name servers were changed to those used by the FBI in such cases. beepcomputer most found. That means law enforcement will most likely have access to a trove of RAMP user data, including email addresses, IP addresses, private messages, and more.
Cybercriminals who were not careful and did not take precautions to hide their identity on the platform could now be identified and even prosecuted.
RAMP was launched in 2021, when other hacking forums, XSS and Exploit, banned hosting and promoting ransomware.
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