European Police Dismantles First VPN, Unmasks Thousands of Criminals
TL;DR Summary
European authorities led by France and the Netherlands, with Europol and Eurojust, dismantled the First VPN service used by cybercriminals for ransomware and data theft. Investigators infiltrated the service, seized 33 servers, and arrested its administrator, identifying about 506 users and producing 83 intelligence packages that supported 21 Europol-facilitated investigations. The operation underscored how VPNs marketed as ‘no-logs’ can mislead users who believe they are safe, even as criminal activity relies on such infrastructure.
- Police boast of hacking VPN where criminals "believed themselves to be safe" Ars Technica
- Law enforcement shuts down VPN service used by two dozen ransomware gangs TechCrunch
- Cybercriminal VPN used by ransomware actors dismantled in global crackdown Europol
- ‘First VPN’ Cybercrime Service Disrupted, Administrator Arrested SecurityWeek
- Europol's Operation Saffron takes down First VPN service over ransomware attacks — 33 'bulletproof' servers spread across 27 countries seized Tom's Hardware
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