- EUROPOL’s Operation Endgame froze $47M in cryptocurrency and dismantled infrastructure for SocGholish, Amadey, and StealC malware
- 326 servers, 142 domains, and 14,971 infected websites were taken down, disrupting distribution networks and recovering 27M credentials
- No arrests were made; experts warn such disruptions often only temporarily halt criminal operations before infrastructure is rebuilt
Millions of dollars in cryptocurrency were frozen, and hundreds of servers taken down, in a sweeping operation by EUROPOL and multiple national law enforcement agencies against cybercriminals.
Over the last couple of weeks, EUROPOL ran Operation Endgame, together with law enforcement agencies from Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Multiple private companies, including Microsoft, participated as well.
The goal was the dismantling of digital infrastructure used by three distinct hacking operations: SocGholish, Amadey, and StealC. These are known malware variants, granting attackers backdoor access, and stealing valuable secrets from compromised devices.
Shutting down servers and cleaning websites
SocGholish, for example, is a sophisticated JavaScript downloader and loader, linked to a Russian Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) operation called Evil Corp.
During the operation, the police managed to identify and freeze $47 million in cryptocurrencies. It cannot access or retrieve these funds, but by freezing them, it effectively removed them from circulation. Around 27 million login credentials were also recovered as part of this operation.
Furthermore, law enforcement shut down 326 servers and 142 domains that were used to host and distribute the malware. This, EUROPOL says, “severely crippled” the malware’s distribution network: “By taking down these tools simultaneously, the collaboration between law enforcement and private parties has increased friction for cybercriminals, making it harder for attacks to succeed, spread, or recover.”
EUROPOL also said that by taking down SocGholish, 14,971 infected websites were “remediated”. These are legitimate sites, belonging to different businesses such as restaurants, auto repair shops, and others, but were compromised and used as launchpads for malware delivery.
Sadly, no arrests have been made, and EUROPOL did not say if key players of these groups were even identified. Usually, disruptions such as this one only momentarily stop malicious activities, which resume in a few weeks once the infrastructure is rebuilt.
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