Hacker behind BreachForums sentenced to 20 years of supervised release

Fitzpatrick operated BreachForums, a hub for the sale and leakage of millions of personal data records globally, under the alias ‘pompompurin,’ He;s been sentenced to time served and 20 years of supervised release.
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Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, a 21-year-old resident of Peekskill, New York, has been sentenced to 20 years of supervised release in the Eastern District of Virginia for his involvement in operating the BreachForums hacking forum. Fitzpatrick was charged in March 2023 for stealing and selling sensitive personal data of numerous US citizens and organisations, both domestic and foreign.

BreachForums was launched by Fitzpatrick in March 2022, following the FBI’s takedown of the cybercrime marketplace RaidForums. The platform became a hub for the sale and leakage of millions of personal data records globally. With nearly 900 stolen databases housing over 14 billion individual records, BreachForums members had access to extensive personal information.

After Fitzpatrick’s arrest on March 15, 2023, where he admitted to operating BreachForums under the alias ‘pompompurin,’ the platform ceased operations. However, concerns arose when it reportedly resurfaced under the management of ShinyHunters, as confirmed by the original forum administrator Baphomet in a PGP-signed message.

Fitzpatrick faced additional charges related to the possession of sexually explicit videos involving minors and various incidents, including a significant data leak in December 2022 and data theft incidents in March 2023. He pleaded guilty to several counts, including Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud, Solicitation for the Purpose of Offering Access, and Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on July 13, 2023.

Despite prosecutors seeking a 188-month imprisonment, the court, considering confidential and medical information, sentenced Fitzpatrick to time served and 20 years of supervised release. The conditions of his release include two years of home arrest with a GPS locator, mandatory mental health treatment, and restrictions on internet access during the first year, with monitoring software installed on his computer. Prosecutors emphasised that Fitzpatrick’s platform facilitated more sophisticated crimes, impacting various sectors of US society.