A notorious threat actor known as IntelBroker has claimed responsibility for hacking the European law enforcement agency Europol. The hacker announced the data breach on the cybercrime forum Breach, revealing that the compromised data includes FOUO (For Official Use Only) and other classified information.

According to IntelBroker, the security breach took place in May 2024 and affected several Europol agencies, including the CCSE (Joint Center for European Security), EC3, the Europol Expert Platform, the Law Enforcement Form, and the SIRIUS system. The SIRIUS system is a project funded by the EU that assists law enforcement and judicial authorities in accessing cross-border electronic evidence for criminal investigations.

In a bold move, IntelBroker posted on the forum, “Hello BreachForums Community, Today, I am selling the entire data breach belonging to Europol. Thanks for reading, enjoy!” The hacker further stated, “In May 2024, Europol suffered a data breach and lead to the exposure of FOUO and classified data.” The hacker is accepting payments only in Monero cryptocurrency for the stolen data.

This recent breach involving Europol is just one of many incidents attributed to IntelBroker. In a separate announcement on the forum, IntelBroker revealed that they also have access to a major cybersecurity company, although the specific company was not disclosed initially. The threat actor demanded $20,000 in cryptocurrency for critical logs packed with credentials, including SMTP access, PAuth access, and SSL passkeys and certificates.

“Hello BreachForums Community. Today I’m selling access to one of the largest cyber security companies. Revenue: $1.8 Billion Access includes: Confidential and highly critical logs packed with credentials, SMTP Access, Muth Pointer Auth Access, SSL Passkeys, SSL Certificates and some others (will be on contact),” read the announcement by IntelBroker. The hacker emphasized that the sale would be conducted through escrow and would only be available to reputable forum members who could provide proof of funds.

Europol has yet to release an official statement regarding the data breach and the potential exposure of sensitive information. As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, it is essential for organizations to strengthen their defenses and ensure robust protection of their data and systems.

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Original Post URL: https://securityaffairs.com/163003/cyber-crime/intelbroker-claims-europol-data-breach.html

Category & Tags: Breaking News, Cyber Crime, Data Breach, Hacking, Cybercrime, Europol, Information Security, IT Information Security, Pierluigi Paganini, Security Affairs.

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