International Law Enforcement Operation Dismantles Cybercrime Platforms
By Ravie Lakshmanan, January 30, 2025
An international law enforcement operation has successfully dismantled the domains associated with various online platforms linked to cybercrime, including Cracked, Nulled, Sellix, and StarkRDP.
Targeted Domains
The effort has targeted the following domains:
- www.cracked.io
- www.nulled.to
- www.mysellix.io
- www.sellix.io
- www.starkrdp.io
Visitors to these websites are now greeted by a seizure banner that says they were confiscated as part of Operation Talent, which involved authorities from Australia, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain, and the United States, along with Europol.
Seizure Message
"This website, as well as the information on the customers and victims of the website, has been seized by international law enforcement partners," the message reads.
Background
Both Nulled and Cracked have been used to peddle various hack tools, such as ScrubCrypt, a malware obfuscation engine that has been observed delivering stealer malware in the past. The maintainers of Cracked confirmed the development on their Telegram channel, stating they are "still waiting for the official court documentation."
Impact
According to Europol, Cracked and Nulled had more than 10 million users in total, acting as underground marketplaces for illegal goods and crimeware solutions, such as stolen data, malware or hacking tools. The websites are estimated to have made €1 million ($1.04 million) in profits.
Concurrent to the takedowns, two suspects have been apprehended, seven properties were searched, and 17 servers and over 50 electronic devices were seized. Approximately €300,000 in cash and cryptocurrency were also appropriated.
Additional Services Taken Down
Other associated services were also taken down, including a financial processor named Sellix, which was used by Cracked, and a hosting service called StarkRDP, which was promoted on both of the platforms and run by the same suspects.
Law Enforcement Efforts
Dismantling cybercrime hubs has been a major focus of law enforcement in recent years, hoping to cripple malicious actors looking to profit off their illicit warez and help even less technically-skilled individuals to carry out attacks at scale.
These two forums also offered AI-based tools and scripts to automatically scan for security vulnerabilities and optimize attacks. Advanced phishing techniques are frequently developed and shared on these platforms, sometimes employing AI to create more personalized and convincing messages.
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