The US Department of Justice has charged British citizen Kai West with a large-scale cybercrime related to the theft and sale of personal data. Under the pseudonym “IntelBroker”, he allegedly operated through BreachForums, one of the most scandalous platforms on the darknet. The US is seeking his extradition from France.
According to the US Department of Justice, Kai West, who was arrested in France in February 2025, managed the IntelBroker account. He is accused of hacking computer networks, stealing and selling confidential data, in particular from the servers of an American telecom provider. The amount of damage caused reached millions of dollars. West is charged with four counts: two of them carry a maximum of 5 years in prison each, and two more – up to 20 years each.
According to French media, the platform on which he traded the stolen data was BreachForums, a forum with a reputation as a hotbed of cybercrime. On the day the indictment was announced, French police also arrested four other French citizens linked to the investigation.
IntelBroker had already been in the spotlight in 2024, when he claimed to have hacked Apple systems and published fragments of internal code. He has also been linked to leaks from Europol, General Electric, DC Health Link, and other high-profile cases. He recently appeared on an updated version of BreachForums on Shoutbox, showing that he had returned to activity after disappearing in April 2025.
The Kay West case is a precedent-setting one, demonstrating international cooperation in combating cybercrime. If the extradition is carried out, it could send a message to other cybercriminals that even operating on the dark web does not guarantee immunity. The US continues to ramp up efforts to combat data leaks and pursue perpetrators around the world.
