Police take down malware networks and secure 6.4 million stolen records
Dutch police helped take down malware networks behind attacks on millions of people. More than 6.4 million stolen records were secured, and people can check if their email address is among them.
Dutch police and prosecutors have helped take down several malware networks in an international operation, the police said on Thursday. Since 2018, millions of people around the world have been victims of the criminals behind these networks. The action is part of Operation Endgame.
Fake search results
During the international action week, the Gootloader malware was shut down. The people behind it infected websites built with WordPress and pushed them to the top of search results. People who clicked on those results ended up on criminal websites that spread the malware. An infection could end in a ransomware attack, which locks files and systems so that victims can no longer reach their own data.
In the Netherlands, 14 Gootloader servers were taken down. Together with international partners, police seized 218 domain names and cleaned 681 websites. Actions were also carried out against the main suspect behind Gootloader, the police said.
Stolen passwords and crypto wallets
The operation also dismantled CastleRAT: 120 servers were taken down, 6 of them in the Netherlands, and 39 domains were seized. Police also took down more servers of the StealC infostealer. Since an earlier takedown in June, 102 StealC servers have been taken down, 80 of them by the Dutch police.
Infostealers and remote access tools such as StealC and CastleRAT steal login names, passwords, crypto wallets and system information from victims’ computers. Criminals can use that data to steal money or to break into company networks.
Check if your data was stolen
Police secured more than 6.4 million stolen personal records. Data stolen by CastleRAT can be checked on the police Check your hack page, and more data will be added in the coming weeks. The victim data is also shared with organisations such as Have I Been Pwned and the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre.
In the Netherlands, the investigation was led by the National Public Prosecution Service, with the High Tech Crime team of the national police and the cybercrime team of the North Holland police unit. Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada took part, with support from Europol and Eurojust.
