{"id":2017707,"date":"2023-08-31T04:15:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T08:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-and-european-partners-seize-major-malware-network-in-blow-to-global-cybercrime\/"},"modified":"2023-08-31T04:20:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T08:20:58","slug":"fbi-and-european-partners-seize-major-malware-network-in-blow-to-global-cybercrime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-and-european-partners-seize-major-malware-network-in-blow-to-global-cybercrime\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI and European allies dismantle major malware network, striking blow to global cybercrime."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-and-european-partners-seize-major-malware-network-in-blow-to-global-cybercrime%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2017707&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Major Global \u200dMalware Network Seized by FBI and \u200cEuropean Partners<\/h2>\n<p>LOS ANGELES\u2014In a groundbreaking operation, U.S. \u200dofficials \u2064announced on \u200dTuesday that the FBI, in collaboration with its European counterparts, successfully infiltrated and \u200btook \u200dcontrol \u2062of a major global malware network. This network had\u200d been \u2064operating for over 15 years, \u200borchestrating a wide range of \u2062online crimes, including \u2062devastating ransomware attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Utilizing their expertise, the cybersecurity experts remotely\u200b eliminated \u200cthe malicious software agent, known as \u2064Qakbot, from thousands of infected computers. This impressive dismantling of \u2064the network is a significant achievement,\u200b although \u2064experts caution that \u2062the impact on cybercrime may only be\u2064 temporary.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/in-depth-americans-becoming-more-aware-of-the-fbis-malfeasance-fbi-whistleblower-5480210\">IN-DEPTH: Americans &#8216;Becoming More Aware of the \u2062FBI&#8217;s \u200dMalfeasance&#8217;: FBI Whistleblower<\/a><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-comp-caption\">8\/30\/2023<\/span>\n    <\/li>\n<li>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/fbi-dismantles-notorious-qakbot-hacking-network-5482737\">FBI Dismantles Notorious Qakbot\u2064 Hacking Network<\/a><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-comp-caption\">8\/29\/2023<\/span>\n    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Nearly every sector of the economy has fallen \u200cvictim \u200dto Qakbot,&#8221; stated Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney in \u2064Los Angeles, during the announcement \u2062of the \u200btakedown.\u2062 He revealed that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/intelligence-community-shows-little-confidence-in-claims-russia-paid-bounties-to-taliban-to-attack-u-s-troops\/\" title=\"Intelligence community shows little confidence in claims Russia paid bounties to Taliban to attack U.S. troops\">criminal network<\/a>\u2064 had orchestrated \u200capproximately 40 ransomware attacks in just 18 months, resulting in Qakbot\u2064 administrators pocketing \u200daround $58 million.<\/p>\n<p>Among the victims of Qakbot&#8217;s ransomware attacks were an engineering firm based in\u2064 Illinois, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-authorities-recover-millions-from-notorious-hacking-network\/\" title=\"U.S. authorities seize millions from infamous hacking network.\">financial services organizations<\/a>\u200b in Alabama and Kansas, a defense manufacturer in Maryland, and a\u200b food distribution company in Southern \u200cCalifornia, according to Estrada.<\/p>\n<p>While $8.6 million in\u2062 cybercurrency was seized or frozen, no\u2062 arrests have\u2064 been made at this time.\u2063 The \u2062investigation is \u200dongoing, and Estrada declined\u2062 to disclose the location of the malware administrators, who are \u2064believed to be in Russia or other former Soviet states, according to cybersecurity\u200d researchers.<\/p>\n<p>Officials estimate that the malware loader,\u200b also known\u2064 as Pinkslipbot and Qbot,\u200c has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages since its initial appearance in \u200d2008 as an information-stealing bank trojan. This digital Swiss knife for cybercrooks\u2064 has affected millions of people in nearly every country worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>Qakbot is typically delivered through \u200cphishing email infections, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-and-european-partners-seize-major-malware-network-in-blow-to-global-cybercrime\/\" title=\"FBI and European allies dismantle major malware network, striking blow to global cybercrime.\">granting criminal hackers initial access<\/a> to compromised computers. From there, they \u2062can deploy additional payloads, such as ransomware, \u2063steal sensitive\u2062 information, or \u2063gather intelligence for financial fraud and other crimes, including tech support and \u200dromance\u200c scams.<\/p>\n<p>Donald\u200d Alway, assistant\u200c director in charge \u2063of the FBI&#8217;s Los Angeles office, described \u2064the Qakbot network \u2064as &#8220;literally feeding the global cybercrime supply chain.&#8221; He labeled \u200dit as &#8220;one of the most\u200d devastating cybercriminal\u200d tools in history.&#8221; In fact, Qakbot was the most commonly detected malware in the first half of \u20632023, impacting one\u2063 in 10 corporate networks and accounting for approximately 30 percent of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-isis-leader-in-syria-killed-in-drone-strike\/\" title=\"Top ISIS Leader in Syria Killed in Drone Strike\">global attacks<\/a>, according to cybersecurity firms. These &#8220;initial access&#8221; tools enable \u200bransomware gangs to bypass the initial\u2064 step of breaching computer networks, making\u2064 them crucial\u200c facilitators\u2062 for the widespread, primarily Russian-speaking criminals\u200d responsible for data theft and disruptions to schools, hospitals, local governments, and businesses worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>In an\u2064 operation dubbed &#8220;Duck Hunt,&#8221; the FBI, Europol, and law \u2062enforcement and justice partners from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the\u200d Netherlands, Romania, and \u2063Latvia \u2063initiated\u200d their actions on Friday. They seized over 50 Qakbot servers and identified more than\u200c 700,000 infected\u200d computers, with over 200,000 of them located in the United States. This effectively severed the criminals&#8217; access to\u2062 their targets.<\/p>\n<p>Using the seized \u2063Qakbot infrastructure, the \u2062FBI then remotely dispatched\u200b updates to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, US officials announced that the FBI and European allies successfully infiltrated and took over a significant worldwide malware network. This network had been utilized for over 15 years to carry out various online crimes, including devastating ransomware attacks. By doing so, they were able to eliminate the Qakbot malware from numerous infected computers, as confirmed by cybersecurity experts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2017708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2017708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}