Security News

Europol details ChatGPT’s potential for criminal abuse
2023-03-28 09:17

With the increased public interest in ChatGPT, the Europol Innovation Lab took the matter seriously and conducted a series of workshops involving subject matter experts from various departments of Europol. These workshops aimed to investigate potential ways in which large language models like ChatGPT can be exploited by criminals and how they can be utilized to aid investigators in their day-to-day tasks.

Core DoppelPaymer ransomware gang members targeted in Europol operation
2023-03-06 14:00

Europol has announced that law enforcement in Germany and Ukraine targeted two individuals believed to be core members of the DoppelPaymer ransomware group. "German officers raided the house of a German national, who is believed to have played a major role in the DoppelPaymer ransomware group," Europol informs in a press release published today.

Europol busts ‘CEO fraud’ gang that stole €38M in a few days
2023-02-17 18:18

Europol has dismantled a Franco-Israeli 'CEO fraud' group that employed business email compromise attacks to divert payments from organizations to bank accounts under the threat actor's control. The fraudsters impersonated CEOs when approaching employees in the target organizations' financial departments and tricked them into performing payments to bank accounts under the scammer's control.

Multi-million investment scammers busted in four-country Europol raid
2023-01-16 19:10

The victim will need to pay in that 20% themselves - indeed, they'd jolly well better pay in quickly, the scammers claim, given that the "Authorities" are now involved and looking for their share. Once you realise you've been scammed, whether the scammers pull the plug on you, or you pull the plug on them, you may "Co-incidentally" be contacted by someone who sympathises with your plight, and who knows just the thing for you to try next.

Privacy watchdog steps up fight against Europol's hoarding of personal data
2022-09-23 06:27

An EU watchdog says rules that allow Europol cops to retain personal data on individuals with no links to criminal activity go against Europe's own data privacy protections, not to mention undermining the regulator's powers and role. The European Data Protection Supervisor has asked Europe's top court to toss out two amendments to the Europol Regulation that took effect on June 28 enabling this data hoarding by the police.

Europol and Bitdefender Release Free Decryptor for LockerGoga Ransomware
2022-09-19 09:45

A decryptor for the LockerGoga ransomware has been made available by Romanian cybersecurity firm Bitdefender in collaboration with Europol, the No More Ransom project, and Zürich law enforcement...

Europol arrests nine suspected of stealing 'several million' euros via phishing
2022-06-23 06:29

Europol cops have arrested nine suspected members of a cybercrime ring involved in phishing, internet scams, and money laundering. Dutch police haven't ruled out additional arrests.

Europol Busts Phishing Gang Responsible for Millions in Losses
2022-06-22 23:18

Europol on Tuesday announced the dismantling of an organized crime group that dabbled in phishing, fraud, scams, and money laundering activities. The cross-border operation, which involved law enforcement authorities from Belgium and the Netherlands, saw the arrests of nine individuals in the Dutch nation.

Super-spreader FluBot squashed by Europol
2022-06-02 08:03

FluBot, the super-spreader Android malware that infected tens of thousands of phones globally, has been reportedly squashed by an international law enforcement operation. In May, Dutch police disrupted the mobile malware's infrastructure, disconnecting thousands of victims' devices from the FluBot network and preventing more than 6.5 million spam text messages propagating the bot from reaching potential victims, according to Finland's National Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday.

FBI, Europol Seize RaidForums Hacker Forum and Arrest Admin
2022-04-13 00:39

Dubbed Tourniquet, the seizure of the cybercrime website involved authorities from the U.S., U.K., Sweden, Portugal, and Romania, with the criminal investigation resulting in the arrest of the forum's administrator at his home last month in Croydon, England. Interestingly, the "Raid" in RaidForums is a nod to its early beginnings as a hub for organizing various forms of electronic harassment - like "Raiding," which refers to a form of targeted harassment by posting an overwhelming volume of messages to a victim.