On July 22, 2025, French and Ukrainian officials, coordinating efforts through Europol, conducted an arrest in Kyiv. The 38-year-old man detained is suspected of administering XSS.is, identified as one of the most influential Russian cybercrime forums of the past decade. This platform reportedly grew out of the established DaMaGeLaB site.
According to reports, the forum boasted a membership exceeding 50,000 users, and its administrator reportedly accrued over seven million euros by facilitating criminal transactions. While the operation garnered international attention within the cybercrime community, the subsequent analysis of the platform’s data proved to be the most significant aspect of the development. Researchers received access to the internal database of the XSS forum and conducted a detailed examination of its contents.
The analysis revealed substantial scale, including 7,706 distinct accounts, 14,509 topics, and 123,241 public messages, with activity documented across 79 different countries. Importantly, the data provided to researchers was thoroughly anonymized. The materials contained no personally identifiable information, such as specific IP addresses, user names, or email addresses.
The findings underscore the breadth and technical complexity of the criminal ecosystem that operated through the forum, providing valuable intelligence for law enforcement agencies.
Topics: #forum #officials #most
