Some of the “most dangerous malicious software” in the world were disrupted this week in a coordinated international operation, which led to the issuance of 20 arrest mandates, anti-crime organizations of the EU Europol and Eurojust said on Friday.
In an operation involving authorities of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and the United States, more than 300 servers have been removed, 650 domains have been neutralized and 3.5 million euros (around 3.9 million dollars) in cryptocurrency were seized.
Between Monday and Thursday, the operation enabled the countries involved “to take measures against the most dangerous malware variants in the world and the authors behind them,” said Eurojust, the criminal justice cooperation agency.
“Thirty-seven suspects have been identified and international arrest warrants were obtained against 20 people criminally charged,” he added.
What malware has been targeted?
According to Europol and Eurojust, the software removed, known as “initial access malware”, is used “for an initial infection, helping cybercriminals to enter the systems of unnoticed victims and to load more malicious software on their devices, such as ransomware.”
Malventy software such as Bumblebee, Lactrodectus, Qakbot, Danabot, Hijackloader, Trickbot and Warmcookie were targeted by the measurements.
“As these variants are at the start of the cyber attack chain, disturbing them damage them the entire ecosystem of” cybercrime as a service, “said the authorities.
Operation at the end of the continuous game
About fifty of neutralized servers this week were in Germany, the authorities said.
“In Germany, surveys have been focused in particular on the suspicions of organized extortion and membership of a foreign criminal organization,” according to federal police and the office of the Frankfurt prosecutor responsible for fighting cybercrime.
The German authorities also obtained international arrest warrants for the 20 people, “most of them from the Russian nationals” and launched research operations, they added.
Repression is an extension of the Endgame operation, the largest police operation never carried out against botnets. A total of 21.2 million euros was seized during the operation, which started in 2024.
Published by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
