Europe: Hacking network dismantled by int’l operation

ANKARA

Law enforcement agencies across six European countries, the US and Canada have disrupted a global hacking network Emotet.

In a written statement Wednesday, Europol described Emotet as the “world’s most dangerous malware”.

“Investigators have now taken control of its infrastructure in an international coordinated action,” EU's law enforcement agency added.

Among the countries that participated in the operation are the Netherlands, Germany, the US, the UK, France, Lithuania, Canada and Ukraine, with international activity coordinated by Europol and Eurojust.

“The EMOTET infrastructure essentially acted as a primary door opener for computer systems on a global scale. Once this unauthorized access was established, these were sold to other top-level criminal groups to deploy further illicit activities such as data theft and extortion through ransomware,” Europol said.

Cyber criminals use Emotet to spy onto a victim’s computer using banking trojans and ransomware.