Operation Neuland, two Italian cybercriminals denounced

Investigations, coordinated at the international level, have allowed to identify in the dark web a platform used to create and spread viruses

Italian law enforcement agencies, in collaboration with European colleagues, have dismantled a dense criminal network dedicated to the creation and spread of malware in the dark web. The operation, called Neuland, was carried out last month and led to the identification of two Italian hackers.

The young men, whose initials are known only, are resident one in the province of Mantua and the other in the province of Catanzaro and have been reported for the crime of spreading viruses, provided for by article 615 of the penal code. According to the international investigation, coordinated by the European Cybercrime Centre of Europol (EC3) and the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT), F.E., 20 years old, and S.A., 19 years old, were among the users of a platform, available in the dark web, responsible for distributing a service, called Counter-Anti Virus (CAV), also known as Razorscanner, and a crypting program, known as Razorcrypter.

Operation Neuland

The platform, discovered during Operation Neuland, allowed users to test their viruses and verify the ability of malicious programs to bypass antivirus. In addition, administrators were providing encryption software, Razorcrypter, to be used to hide the virus within legitimate programs and fool control systems.

The Neuland operation focused first on the identification of the managers of the platform and then on the users, among whom were identified the two Italian guys, hackers skilled in the creation of viruses and in the diffusion of malware in the dark web, and already known to the police.

The investigations allowed to seize many tools used by the two young cyber criminals in the production of the malicious programs. During the course of the international operations, 43 searches were carried out, as a result of which 4 hackers were arrested and 5 people were charged across Europe.