The investigations led to the arrest of five people, 39 providers were involved, 221 servers were disabled and more than 830,000 web domains were closed
From a few days the web is a safer place. Operation Avalanche has been concluded, putting an end to one of the largest cyber criminal organizations in the world. The operations were coordinated by Europol and Interpol and involved the FBI and the computer police of 30 different countries.
The numbers of the operation.
Operation Avalanche involved 39 providers, led to the deactivation of 221 servers and the closure of almost 900,000 web domains. The investigations had started more than four years ago thanks to the German police. Over time, a network was discovered that was capable of creating viruses, malware, ransomware, but also phishing campaigns. E soprattutto un gruppo di hacker immischiati nel riciclaggio di denaro sporco. Secondo Europol, le vittime di infezioni da malware condotti attraverso la rete bot Avalanche sono state identificate in oltre 180 Paesi e le perdite monetarie sono stimate nell’ordine delle centinaia di milioni di euro in tutto il mondo.
Come agivano i cyber criminali
Fonte foto: Shutterstock
Cinque tra gli hacker più pericolosi al mondo sono finiti dietro le sbarre
L’Europol ha spiegato che il gruppo di cyber criminali agiva quasi sempre nello stesso modo. Affittavano la loro piattaforma a gruppi di malintenzionati per diffondere attacchi a livello globale. Stando ai dati le vittime potevano superare anche il numero di 500mila al giorno. Per evitare di venire rintracciati i responsabili utilizzavano diverse tecniche sofisticate con lo scopo di mantenere l’anonimato. New domains were purchased every day with IP and DNS changed every few minutes. The group is responsible for two-thirds of the total worldwide phishing attacks.
The arrests
The operation led to the arrest of five people and the search of 37 buildings. The Director of the Postal Police, Roberto Di Legami, said at the end of the investigation: "We have long maintained that the response to cybercrime can only be achieved through partnership and international collaboration. Today's operation represents the most evident confirmation of this. Only a perfect synchronization between the cyber police of so many countries could lead to such a complex operation".