EU, US authorities take down malware network
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, Eurojust, is pictured on its headquarters ahead of a news conference on alleged war crimes, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in The Hague, Netherlands May 31, 2022. REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) -European, American and Canadian authorities have taken down over 300 servers worldwide and issued international arrest warrants against 20 suspects in a crackdown on malware, EU agency for criminal justice cooperation Eurojust said in a statement, the latest phase in Operation Endgame.
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 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 an operation started in 2024.
CONTEXT
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.
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 include eighteen of them on the EU Most Wanted list on Friday.
(Reporting by GV De Clercq)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Wrongly deported Salvadoran migrant arrested on return to US
WASHINGTON: The Salvadoran migrant at the heart of a row over President Donald Trump's hardline deportation policies was returned to the United States on Friday and arrested on human smuggling charges, officials said. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States from El Salvador and immediately arrested on charges of trafficking undocumented migrants into the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. 'Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,' Bondi said at a press conference. The US Supreme Court had ordered the Trump administration to 'facilitate' the return of Abrego Garcia after he was mistakenly deported in March to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador. But Bondi insisted to reporters that his return to the United States resulted from an arrest warrant presented to the Salvadoran authorities. 'We're grateful to (Salvadoran) President (Nayib) Bukele for agreeing to return him to our country to face these very serious charges,' she said. In a post on X, Bukele said 'we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn't refuse.' White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said Abrego Garcia's return 'has nothing to do with his original deportation.' 'There was no mistake,' Jackson said on X. 'He's returning because a new investigation has revealed crimes SO HEINOUS, committed in the US, that only the American Justice System could hold him fully accountable.' Abrego Garcia, 29, was living in the eastern state of Maryland until he became one of more than 200 people sent to a prison in El Salvador as part of Trump's crackdown on undocumented migrants. Most of the migrants who were summarily deported were alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has declared a foreign terrorist organization. - 'Administrative error' - Justice Department lawyers later admitted that Abrego Garcia -- who is married to a US citizen -- was wrongly deported due to an 'administrative error.' Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country. Bondi alleged that Abrego Garcia had 'played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring' and was a smuggler of 'children and women' as well as members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13. 'This defendant trafficked firearms and narcotics throughout our country on multiple occasions,' she said. Bondi said that Abrego Garcia, who was indicted by a grand jury in Tennessee, would be returned to El Salvador upon completion of any prison sentence. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen visited Abrego Garcia in April at the prison where he was being held in El Salvador and welcomed his return to the United States. 'For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution,' the senator from Maryland said in a statement. 'Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States,' he said. 'The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.' According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia was involved in smuggling undocumented migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries into the United States between 2016 and earlier this year.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
US agents arrest two migrants at NY courthouse
NEW YORK: US agents pounced on two immigrants in the hallway of a New York courthouse Friday, wrestling them to the ground in a forceful display of President Donald Trump's crackdown on people without papers. The two men had just attended a scheduled hearing when plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, some wearing black face masks, grabbed them. The officers yelled for the men not to move or put up resistance and forced them to lay face-down on the ground as they tied their hands behind their backs and arrested them. The immigrants were then whisked away into an elevator on the 12th floor of the Jacob K Javits Federal Building in Manhattan. The routine appointment they hoped would be a step toward life in America ended in shock and detention. AFP was on hand to witness these events because there was a similar arrest at the same courthouse earlier in the week and the agency suspected more might be imminent. It was not immediately clear exactly why these two men were arrested nor the fate that awaits them. Trump was elected to a second term largely on a promise to crack down hard on the entry and presence of undocumented migrants and Americans largely support the idea. But polls show they also find tactics like surprise courthouse arrests by agents with black masks to be harsh. In recent weeks ICE agents have intensified operations like this in and around American immigration courts. After Trump swept back into power in January, the Department of Homeland Security revoked regulations that limited agents' access to protected areas like the courts. One of the men arrested was a 34-year-old Dominican named Joaquin Rosario who arrived in the United States a year ago, registered with authorities as he came in, and had his first immigration hearing Friday, said a relative of his, Julian Rosario, who declined to say how they were related. 'He was at ease. He did not think anything was going to happen,' said the relative, who was still visibly upset by what he had witnessed as agents threw the other man to the ground. Rosario was so unworried he did not even bother to have a lawyer with him, the relative said. The other detainee looked to be Asian. He arrived on his own and was accompanied by one of many immigration advocacy group volunteers who walk with such immigrants to and from the courtroom. The idea is to make them feel safe. This time the volunteers screamed out as the agents arrested the two men but this did nothing to halt the raid. Before this arrest other immigrants with appointments, including entire families, came and went with no problem. A pair of Venezuelans who refused to give their names were jubilant because their next appointment is not until 2027 -- that's how backlogged the US immigration court system is. - 'Sound the alarm' - Human rights groups are outraged by these operations, arguing that they sap trust in the courts and make immigrants wary of showing up for appointments as they try to gain US residency. 'They're illegal abductions,' said Karen Ortiz, herself a court employee who was demonstrating Friday against these sudden arrests of migrants. 'We need to sound the alarm and show the public how serious this is and one way we can do that is actually physically putting ourselves between a masked ICE agent and someone they're trying to detain and send away,' Ortiz told AFP. Since returning to power Trump has dramatically tested the limits of executive power as he cracked down on foreigners without papers, arguing that the United States is being invaded by criminals and other undesirables.
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
Foreigners face death penalty
An American man and two Kazakh nationals face the death penalty for alleged drug crimes on the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali, authorities said, marking the latest cases in a nation with some of the world's toughest narcotics laws. Indonesia hands out severe punishments for drug smuggling and has previously executed foreigners, but has upheld a moratorium on the death sentence since 2017. American national William Wallace Molyneaux was arrested on May 23, allegedly carrying seven packages containing 99 pills of amphetamine, Bali's narcotics agency told reporters in Denpasar. Molyneaux has multiple charges levelled against him including distributing drugs, which carries the maximum penalty of death by execution. Two Kazakh men were also arrested in April with around 49g of crystal meth, allegedly intending to drop it off as part of a drug deal. They were accused of transacting drugs, a charge that carries the death sentence as the maximum penalty. The narcotics agency said it had uncovered 15 drug cases in Bali between April and May, resulting in 21 arrests including five foreigners. The other cases include an Australian man who was arrested with nearly 200g of hashish and 92g of THC in Denpasar and an Indian man caught with 488g of marijuana at Bali's international airport. Both face hefty prison terms. The latest cases come after the trial of three Brits began on Tuesday, all accused of smuggling drugs or taking part in a drugs deal, leaving them also facing the death penalty. The British embassy in Jakarta said London's policy on the death penalty was to be opposed 'in all circumstances, as a matter of principle'. It said diplomats had 'made representations about the use of the death penalty to the Indonesian government at the highest levels'. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's administration has moved in recent months to repatriate several high-profile inmates, all sentenced for drug offences, back to their home countries. According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, more than 90 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges. — AFP
