Europol coordinates global action against criminal abuse of Cobalt Strike


Law enforcement has teamed up with the private sector to fight against the abuse of a legitimate security tool by criminals who were using it to infiltrate victims’ IT systems.

Older, unlicensed versions of the Cobalt Strike red teaming tool were targeted during a week of action coordinated from Europol’s headquarters between 24 and 28 June. Throughout the week, law enforcement flagged known IP addresses associated with criminal activity, along with a range of domain names used by criminal groups, for online service providers to disable unlicensed versions of the tool.

Read more…
Source: Europol


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Global hacker arrested in Thailand in joint operation of Singapore and Thai police

    February 27, 2025

    The Singapore Police Force (‘SPF’) collaborated with the Royal Thai Police (‘RTP’) on a cross-border operation against a hacker believed to be responsible for a series of international data breaches, leading to the arrest of a 39-year-old man on 26 February 2025 in Thailand. Investigations into the data breaches began in 2020, following reports filed by ...

  • UK: Man jailed for abusive emails to politicians

    February 18, 2025

    A 39-year-old man has been jailed for sending malicious communications to a government minister, the mayor of London and a senior Met Police officer. Jack Bennett, of Newlands Park, Seaton, Devon, pleaded guilty to four counts of sending malicious emails; one to Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, one to Metropolitan police officer Matt Twist, and two counts ...

  • Posting hateful speech online could lead to police raiding your home in this European country

    February 16, 2025

    If you’ve ever dared to read the comments on a social media post, you might start to wonder if civilized discourse is just a myth. Aggressive threats, lies, and harassment have unfortunately become the norm online, where anonymity has emboldened some users to push the limits of civility. In the United States, most of what ...

  • Israel: Extortionists posed as women online, trapped victims with intimate photos

    February 14, 2025

    Two men were arrested on Thursday for operating a sophisticated sexual extortion network. According to the investigation, they posed as women on social media lured victims into sending intimate photos, and then threatened to expose the images unless they paid money. The prosecution stated: “They acted systematically, cynically exploiting their victims.” David Bracha, 26, from Rishon ...

  • Northern Ireland: Two people charged over alleged New IRA activity after PSNI data breach

    February 13, 2025

    Two men have appeared in court charged with terrorism offences linked to a major PSNI data breach. Brian Francis Cavlan, 49, from Coronation Park, Aughnacloy and Rory Martin Logan, 43, with an address given as HMP Maghaberry, appeared before court on Thursday. They were arrested on Tuesday as part of an ongoing police investigation into the ...

  • Italian government denies Paragon has cut spyware contract

    February 12, 2025

    Italy denied on Wednesday that Israeli spyware maker Paragon had cut ties with Rome following allegations that the Italian government had illegally used its technology to hack the phones of critics instead of criminals. “Paragon has never suspended the service and has not terminated its contract,” the cabinet undersecretary for intelligence matters, Alfredo Mantovano, told reporters. ...