European, American, and Canadian authorities have dismantled over 300 servers globally and issued international arrest warrants for 20 suspects in a major cybercrime crackdown, marking the latest phase of Operation Endgame, according to the EU’s criminal justice agency, Eurojust.
“The malware taken down this week is known as ‘initial access malware’. It is used for initial infection, helping cybercriminals to enter victims’ systems unnoticed and load more malware onto their devices, such as ransomware,” read a statement from Eurojust, published on May 23.
“This year during Endgame 2.0, the measures targeted the successor groups of malware taken down by the authorities and other relevant variants: Bumblebee, Lactrodectus, Qakbot, DanaBot, HijackLoader, Trickbot, and WarmCookie. As these variants are at the beginning of the cyberattack chain, disrupting them damages the entire ‘cybercrime as a service’ ecosystem,” Eurojust notified.
Cross-Border Investigations
“Due to the global nature of cybercrime, cross-border investigations are key for taking action against disruptive cybercrimes. Since 2024, Eurojust has provided essential support to ensure effective judicial cooperation,” the statement read.
“Coordination by Eurojust ensured that authorities could exchange information and align their investigative efforts.”
“Europol supported the operation from the outset, providing coordination, operational and analytical support, cryptocurrency tracing, and facilitating the real-time exchange of information between the various partners involved,” Eurojust said.
By The Numbers
German, French, Dutch, Danish, British, American and Canadian authorities joined forces this week against the world’s most dangerous malware variants and the perpetrators behind them.
More than three dozen suspects were identified and 20 individuals were criminally charged.
Over 300 servers worldwide were taken down, 650 domains were neutralised and 3.5 million euros in cryptocurrency were seized.
The actions follow efforts in May 2024, which had been the largest-ever operation against botnets.
In total, 21.2 million euros have been seized during the operation which started in 2024.
What’s Next?
Operation Endgame will continue with follow-up actions announced on the dedicated website from the international coalition.
Several key suspects behind the malware operations are subject to international and public appeals.
“The German authorities will publish eighteen of them on the EU Most Wanted list as of 23 May,” the statement read.
(With inputs from Reuters)
