Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 23, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
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A suspected administrator of the Russian cybercrime forum XSS.is was arrested in Ukraine, accused of earning over €7 million. Europol and French authorities were involved in the operation.
PARIS (Reuters) -A person suspected of being the administrator for the Russian language cybercriminal forum XSS.is was arrested in Ukraine this week, the French public prosecutor's office and the pan-European police body Europol said on Wednesday.
Europol said the suspect - whose name has not been given - was thought to have earned more than 7 million euros ($8.20 million) via the forum.
"The forum's administrator was not only a technical operator but is believed to have played a central role in enabling criminal activity," a Europol statement said.
"Acting as a trusted third party, he arbitrated disputes between criminals and guaranteed the security of transactions. He is also believed to have run thesecure.biz, a private messaging service tailored to the needs of the cybercriminal underground," it added.
Europol said the cybercrime forum had more than 50,000 registered users and served as a key marketplace for stolen data, hacking tools and other illegal services.
The suspect was arrested in Kyiv on Tuesday in a police operation involving Ukrainian authorities, according to French police and Europol.
($1 = 0.8536 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Dominique Vidalon; editing by Mark Heinrich)
A person suspected of being the administrator for the Russian language cybercriminal forum XSS.is was arrested in Ukraine.
The suspect is believed to have earned more than 7 million euros (approximately $8.20 million) through the forum.
The administrator was not only a technical operator but also played a central role in facilitating criminal activity by arbitrating disputes and ensuring transaction security.
The forum had over 50,000 registered users and served as a marketplace for stolen data, hacking tools, and other illegal services.
The arrest was part of a police operation involving both Ukrainian authorities and Europol.
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