By Editorial Desk, 63SATS
In a significant crackdown on cybercrime, the FBI has seized the domains of Cracked.io and Nulled.to, two infamous hacking forums notorious for enabling cybercriminal activities such as password theft, credential stuffing, and software cracking.
According to Bleeping Computer, the domains had been seized in a joint law enforcement action dubbed “Operation Talent” that included authorities from the United States, Italy, Spain, Europe, France, Greece, Australia, and Romania.
These platforms, which facilitated illicit trade in stolen credentials and hacking tools, are now inaccessible, marking a major blow to cybercriminal networks.
Hubs of Cybercrime Disrupted
While some members of these forums engaged in ethical hacking discussions, most activities revolved around illegal practices.
These sites offered hacking tools, cracked software, and “combo lists”—databases of stolen usernames and passwords.
Cybercriminals used these resources to launch large-scale credential stuffing attacks using tools like OpenBullet and SilverBullet, designed to automate unauthorized access to accounts.
Visitors attempting to access Cracked.io and Nulled.to now encounter error messages such as “Error 1000. DNS points to prohibited IP” and “Error 1016. Origin DNS error”, indicating that the sites have been effectively taken offline.
The FBI has taken control of their domain name servers, redirecting them to ns1.fbi.seized.gov and ns2.fbi.seized.gov, a clear sign of law enforcement intervention.
Forum Admins Attempt to Downplay the Seizure
Despite the takedown, Cracked.io’s administrators initially dismissed the issue as a data center problem. In a message shared on their Telegram channel, they reassured users that the site was experiencing technical difficulties, stating:
“There is an active issue in our data center which the staff is working on. Hence, services remain offline till the issue is resolved. We will get a detailed report later.”
They further speculated that services could be restored within a day, though without providing any clear timeframe.
However, with the FBI officially seizing the domains, it is unlikely that these platforms will return in their previous form.
