Between 27 and 29 May 2024 Operation Endgame, coordinated from Europol’s headquarters, targeted droppers including, IcedID, SystemBC, Pikabot, Smokeloader, Bumblebee and Trickbot.
The actions focused on disrupting criminal services through arresting High Value Targets, taking down the criminal infrastructures and freezing illegal proceeds. This approach had a global impact on the dropper ecosystem. The malware, whose infrastructure was taken down during the action days, facilitated attacks with ransomware and other malicious software. Following the action days, eight fugitives linked to these criminal activities, wanted by Germany, will be added to Europe’s Most Wanted list on 30 May 2024. The individuals are wanted for their involvement in serious cybercrime activities. This is the largest ever operation against botnets, which play a major role in the deployment of ransomware.
Read more…
Source: Europol
Related:
- US airline industry quietly selling flight data to DHS
June 11, 2025
A data broker owned by some of America’s biggest airlines has been selling access to customer flight data to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The data, compiled by data broker Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), includes names, flight itineraries, and financial details. It also covers flights booked via US travel agencies. ARC makes this data ...
- UK: Police Federation pays £15m to officers hit by cyber attack
June 10, 2025
The Police Federation has paid out £15 million to 19,000 current and former officers who had their personal details compromised and stolen by cyber criminals. Two huge attacks exposed the home addresses of some officers to hackers six years ago, and in March 2022 the federation admitted a breach of the requirements under the GDPR to ...
- Europol and Microsoft disrupt world’s largest infostealer Lumma
May 21, 2025
Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre has worked with Microsoft to disrupt Lumma Stealer (“Lumma”), the world’s most significant infostealer threat. This joint operation targeted the sophisticated ecosystem that allowed criminals to exploit stolen information on a massive scale. Europol coordinated with law enforcement in Europe to ensure action was taken, leveraging intelligence provided by Microsoft. Between 16 ...
- Turkish intel busts cyber espionage ring stealing personal data
May 10, 2025
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has dismantled a cyber espionage network that sought to steal personal and financial data from citizens by imitating corporate identities through fake cell towers, security sources said Saturday. After months of investigations and surveillance, seven foreign nationals were caught red-handed in a joint operation with Istanbul police and prosecutors, sources said, ...
- Russia: Damage from phone scammers in Russia exceeded $2.1 bln in 2024
May 7, 2025
More than 640,000 cases of remote fraud were reported in Russia in 2024, while the damage they caused exceeded 170 billion rubles ($2.1 bln), the Public Relations Center of the Federal Security Service (FSB), reported. According to the FSB, “the measures taken stopped the functioning of the illicit virtual communications center, seized more than 1,200 SIM ...
- Kidnappers in France target cryptocurrency entrepreneurs for ransom
May 4, 2025
French police rescued the father of a wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur in a nighttime raid after he was taken hostage for ransom, the latest alleged criminal effort in France to extort people involved in the management of digital assets. The man was kidnapped Thursday morning in Paris, the prosecutor’s office said Sunday. “The victim turned out to ...

