Cyberpolice, together with foreign colleagues, neutralized the network of a VPN service used by cybercriminals to attack encryption viruses
During the international operation, law enforcement gained access to 15 servers in 10 countries that hosted the VPN service. Currently, the network infrastructure used in cybercrimes is blocked.
The police special operation was carried out by the employees of the Cyber Police Department together with the investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police, the Office of the Prosecutor General, law enforcement colleagues from Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Latvia, the United Kingdom and the United States, under the direction of Europol and Eurojust.
Law enforcement became interested in the provider after numerous investigations confirmed the use of the specified VPN service by criminals to control botnets and spread malware.
The VPN service offered services based on OpenVPN technology and 2048-bit encryption to mask ip addresses and ensure anonymity on the Internet.
The service was popular among cybercriminals. In particular, in Germany, more than 150 cases of infection with a ransomware virus, which spread using the specified VPN service, have been identified. The victims paid the hackers about 60 million euros in ransom.
As a result of the operation, the network infrastructure, which was located on 15 servers in 10 countries, including Ukraine, was blocked.
Currently, law enforcement officers are identifying those involved in the attacks with encryption viruses using a blocked VPN service.
Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine
