Security News > 2021 > January > Law Enforcement Planning Emotet Cleanup Operation Following Botnet Takedown
Following a takedown operation earlier this month, authorities are taking steps towards cleaning up systems infected with the Emotet malware.
Serving as a malware loader, Emotet has been associated with the distribution of well-known malware families, including TrickBot and Ryuk ransomware, among others.
This week, Europol announced that, as part of an international operation that saw the participation of law enforcement agencies from eight different countries, Emotet's infrastructure has been dismantled.
The Ukrainian police announced that two suspected Emotet infrastructure operators have been arrested, while other cybercriminals associated with the botnet's activities have been identified and are being pursued.
No specific timeframe for when the cleanup process will begin has been provided, but a security researcher suggested on Twitter that March 25, 2021, might be the day, based on lines of code found in the update that's being sent to Emotet bots.
UPDATE 2: Cybersecurity firm Team Cymru told SecurityWeek that while it was not involved in this aspect of the operation, it believes that the Emotet cleanup will actually start in April, not March.