In an operation coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, one of the most active and dangerous botnets, Emotet has been taken down by international authorities. The email spamming botnet that was used to spread malice through word attachments was responsible for further installing malicious threats known as Qbot and Trickbot.
What transpired?
Recently, the malware infrastructure of Emotet was disrupted by law enforcement agencies from Germany, the Netherlands, the U.S., the U.K, Lithuania, France, Ukraine, and Canada.
- A module is being spread that will uninstall the malware on March 25, 2021, after the botnet was taken over by law enforcement. This can prove to be a major interruption that will make the botnet’s resurgence very difficult.
- With various functionalities to manage the infected computers, the infrastructure of Emotet included hundreds of servers located around the world.
Suspected Threat actors under fire –
- The Ukrainian Cyberpolice Department arrested two individuals who are believed to be involved in the botnet’s infrastructure maintenance and could face 12 years if they are found guilty.
- Other affiliates of a cybercrime group using the infrastructure have been identified as well and measure to apprehend them are being taken rapidly.
In the global fight against cybercrime, the takedown of Emotet’s infrastructure is being considered as a major win. In order to be safe from similar attacks, our internal experts suggest using a reliable anti-malware solution like eScan, providing training to employees in identifying phishing emails, and always updating operating systems and software.
To read more, please check eScan Blog
