Four individuals have been arrested in what Europol has named the “largest-ever operation” against aggressive malware that plays a crucial role in the deployment of ransomware.
The operation, known as “Endgame”, has had a “worldwide impact on the droppers’ ecosystem,” according to Europol. ‘Droppers’ refer to a kind of software utilised to introduce other malicious software into a target system.
Alongside the arrests, eight fugitives associated with these criminal activities will be added to Europe’s most-wanted list.
“Endgame” is still ongoing, with more arrests expected, Europol clarified.
The operation occurred between 27 and 29 May and was coordinated from Europol’s headquarters in The Hague. It led to arrests in Armenia and Ukraine, with nearly twenty searches carried out across four countries. The targeted servers were located in various European countries, the United States, and Canada.
Initially opened in 2022, the investigation revealed that one of the principal suspects earned at least €69 million in cryptocurrency by renting out criminal infrastructure for ransomware deployment, announced Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.
