In an international operation, German security authorities have carried out the “biggest blow to date” against cyber criminals worldwide. Four people were arrested and ten international arrest warrants were issued.
International law enforcement agencies say they have neutralized more than 100 servers and over 1,300 web addresses used for criminal purposes in a global operation against cybercrime. This was announced by the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Several of the currently most influential malware families have been taken offline.
The operation was primarily aimed at the groups behind the six malware families “IcedID”, “SystemBC”, “Bumblebee”, “Smokeloader”, “Pikabot” and “Trickbot”, the Federal Criminal Police Office and Europol announced. These programs are used as so-called droppers, which serve as door openers for penetrating networks. If this is successful, ransomware can be installed in the foreign computer system. These programs encrypt the data of those affected – for example a company. The victims usually have to pay a high ransom to be able to access their data again.
According to investigators, 69 million euros belonging to one operator were confiscated. In addition, 99 crypto wallets with a total value of over 70 million euros were blocked on crypto exchanges.
According to the information, ten international arrest warrants were issued and four people were provisionally arrested in the measures coordinated by German authorities. Germany issued arrest warrants against a total of eight actors. On this basis, seven people are being sought who are strongly suspected of “having participated as members of a criminal organization for the purpose of distributing the malware ‘Trickbot’,” the investigators further announced.
Searches in Armenia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Ukraine
During the operation on Tuesday and Wednesday, searches were carried out in a total of 16 properties in Armenia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Ukraine, during which numerous pieces of evidence were seized. The data found are currently being evaluated and could lead to further investigations.
“With the largest international cyber police operation to date, the law enforcement authorities have managed to deal a significant blow to the cybercrime scene,” said BKA Vice President Martina Link, according to the statement. “The current success is based on measures against infrastructures, actors and their financial resources.”
Law enforcement officials from the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Great Britain, Austria and the USA were involved in the operation. They were supported by the police authority Europol and the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.