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In the early hours of January 17, a series of unrest took place in Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom. These services are unavailable because enforcement agencies have seized 15 servers providing VPNLab.net services. Under the banner of the Central Criminal Investigation Department of the Directorate of Police in Hanover, Germany, he took charge of the operation. EMPACT– Project Cybercrime – Attacks on information systems.
Preferred provider for cybercriminals
Founded in 2008, VPNLab.net guarantees online anonymity for services based on OpenVPN technology and 2048-bit encryption for $ 60 a year. It became popular among cyber criminals who continued to use the services without fear that the authorities would find out their crimes.
Enforcement agencies discovered the provider after several investigations revealed that criminals were using VPNLab.net products to facilitate their illegal practices, such as managing botnets and distributing ransomware. Other cases show that the products were used to build the infrastructure and communications behind ransomware campaigns. At the same time, detectives found advertisements for the service on the dark web.
As a result of the investigation, it has come to light that hundreds of companies are at risk of being the target of a cyber attack. Enforcement is currently working closely with these potential victims to make them vulnerable to attack.
Use VPN services for criminal purposes
Edvardas Šileris, head of Europol’s European Cyber Crime Center: ‘The actions that were part of this investigation make it clear that criminals have fewer and fewer ways to hide their tracks online. Every survey we conduct provides information for the following. The information we collect about potential victims will help us prevent many serious cyber attacks and data breaches.
Volkswagen Cluey, police chief in Hanover, said: “Another important aspect of this process is that service providers who refuse to provide information when legally requested by law enforcement agencies support illegal practices. The move demonstrates that the effective cooperation of international law enforcement agencies can take over the global network and destroy such organizations.
Europol’s European Cyber Crime Center (EC3) sponsored the day with an analysis project ‘CYBORG’, which organized more than 60 coordination meetings and three face-to-face workshops. In addition, EC3 provided analytical and forensic assistance. The Joint Cyber Crime Action Task Force (J-CAT) facilitated the exchange of information from Europol headquarters in The Hague.
The following officers took part in the operation:
- Germany: Political Directorate Hanover (Directorate of Police Hanover) – Central Research
- Netherlands: Police, National Branch (National Intelligence Service, Team High Tech Crime)
- Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- Czech Republic: Czech Police (Policy SK Republic) – Department of Cybercrime
- France: Deputy Director of the Judicial Police, Cyber Crime Fight
- Hungary: Hungarian Police (Renderzack)
- Latvia: Latvian State Police (Waltz Policija) – Federal Criminal Investigation Department
- Oekraïne: Oekraïense Nationale Politie (National Police of Ukraine) – Afdeling Cybercrime
- United Kingdom: National Criminal Institution
- United States: Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Eurojust
- Europol: European Cyber Crime Center (EC3)
According to Here Europol News.
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