Who is ‘Purgatory’? The group behind the spate of active shooter hoaxes

October 3, 2025

Who is ‘Purgatory’? The group behind the spate of active shooter hoaxes

A cybercriminal group called “Purgatory” is one of the groups responsible for a recent wave of fake active shooter threats targeting universities across the United States, according to a new intelligence report from the Center for Internet Security. John Cohen, Executive Director of the Program for Countering Hybrid Threats at CIS, spoke with NewsNation about the report, and the larger issues surrounding these dangerous incidents.

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