European authorities destroy most dangerous malicious network

by



[ad_1]

The malware, Emotet, gained access to users’ computers via infected attachments, including documents claiming to be “invoices, shipping notices and information on Covid-19,” the police agency said. European Europol, which coordinated the effort, in a statement Wednesday.

“The Emotet infrastructure has essentially acted as a primary gate opener for IT systems globally,” Europol said. “Once this unauthorized access was established, these were sold to other high-level criminal groups to carry out other illicit activities such as data theft and extortion.”

The global effort to disrupt and take control of the compromised network, known as the botnet, was jointly led by eight countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. Low. The network consisted of several hundred servers around the world, Europol said.
An investigation by Dutch police has revealed a database of email addresses, passwords and usernames that have been compromised by Emotet. Users can check if their email addresses have been violated through this link.
The malware saw a resurgence last year, according to the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which described “a significant increase in malicious cyber actors targeting state and local governments” with emails emotet phishing. “This increase has made Emotet one of today’s most prevalent threats, ”added CISA.

Europol has urged internet users to update their device’s antivirus tools and to be more careful to avoid falling prey to malware attacks.

“Users should check their email carefully and avoid opening messages and especially attachments from unknown senders,” he says. “If a message sounds too good to be true, it probably is and emails that involve a sense of urgency should be avoided at all costs.”

[ad_2]

Source link