Police have taken down a global virtual private network used by criminals to do business online, which left more than 100 firms at risk of cyberattacks, the EU’s policing agency said on Tuesday. Officers in Europe and North America seized or disrupted at least 15 servers hosting users and VPNLab.net, a service provider that offered criminal groups shielded communications and internet access, on Monday, Europol said. “The VPN provider service… was being used in support of serious criminal acts such as ransomware deployment and other cybercrime activities,” Europol said. Law enforcement agents honed in on the VPN service provider, established in 2008, after multiple investigations showed that criminals were using it for activities such as disseminating malware, malicious software designed to infiltrate or disrupt computer systems. “Other cases showed the service’s use in the setting up of infrastructure and communications behind ransomware campaigns, as well as the actual deployment of ransomware,” Europol said.

Source: The Guardian January 18, 2022 12:29 UTC