Briefly
Earlier this week, Europol, the FBI and police from a number of European countries launched “Operation Endgame.”
They have now brought down parts of a vast criminal network.
Arrested by the FBI
The FBI recently arrested Chinese national YunHe Wang in connection with the operation. He is now accused of hacking into more than 19 million computers in nearly 200 countries.
According to one Indictment Wang, who was introduced by US authorities, is said to be the mastermind behind one of the world's most sophisticated cybercriminal networks.
He is accused of creating a program that gave access to victims' computers. He then allegedly sold this access to criminals.
Fraud and bomb threats
according to BBC Criminals are said to have used the software to commit a wide range of crimes anonymously. These include fraud, child abuse and bomb threats.
It is also said that more than 500,000 fake insurance claims were sent from hacked computers. It should have resulted in a loss of $5.9 billion.
The arrest was made in Singapore, and the police confiscated luxury watches, sports cars, and 21 properties from the accused.
The greatest of all time
Also in Europe, four people were arrested this week in Armenia and Ukraine. In addition, more than 100 servers have been shut down.
According to Europol, the operation is the largest police action ever against a so-called “botnet”.
It is a term used to refer to a network of computers infected with malware.
Computers are often infected with this type of software through “phishing” where the victim is tricked into clicking on a link containing malware.
Demand a ransom
Criminals often use this method to take control of computer systems. They then demand a ransom to restore access to the rightful owner.
These attacks infected millions of computers and were responsible for attacks around the world. This also includes attacks on healthcare and other critical infrastructure, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement statement.
Dangerous: FBI Director Christopher Wray says criminals often attack critical infrastructure. Photograph: Samuel Corum/AFP.
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The Danish police were centralized
A number of European countries participated in “Operation Endgame”. The Danish Financial Crimes Unit (NSK) was central to the investigation.
According to documents sent by NSK to Dagbladet, several known “botnets” have been removed. Malware was removed from thousands of personal computers and police operations were carried out in the Netherlands, Portugal, Ukraine and Armenia.
– We are talking about heavy organized crime intersecting with a highly specialized ecosystem, writes Head of Department at NSK, Henriette Erbes.
There are still many people connected to the network and are at large.
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