Wu Ming — 1 year ago(October 30, 2024 07:26 AM)

Dutch National Police, the FBI, and other partners of the international task force
"Operation Magnus"
disrupted the operation of the Redline and Meta infostealers. The criminal rings behind the malware are responsible for stealing information from millions of victims globally.
Authorities released more details explaining the malicious operation and how the software was specifically designed to steal sensitive data from unsuspecting users’ computers.
Three arrested, follow-up Actions 'cannot be ruled out'
To date, the US authorities have charged one administrator, and the Belgian police have arrested two people. Follow-up actions and arrests cannot be ruled out.
The Justice Department unsealed charges against Maxim Rudometov, who is believed to be one of the developers and administrators of RedLine Infostealer.
"If convicted, Rudometov faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for access device fraud, five years in prison for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, and 20 years in prison for money laundering,"
the press release reads.
The US agents have identified millions of unique credentials (usernames and passwords), email addresses, bank accounts, cryptocurrency addresses, credit card numbers, etc.
The US does not believe it possesses all the stolen data and continues to investigate.
During Operation Magnus, authorities seized domains and servers used by the cybercriminals. Multiple Telegram accounts, which acted as distribution channels, have also been shut down.
Malicious Servers found by ESET
The Dutch police said they received a tip from a security company, ESET Netherlands, about servers in the country that were related to malware. The year-long investigation revealed the technical infrastructure of the infostealers, communication channels, and a complete user database.
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Tools available for affected Users
Users can check if they’re infected with any of the two infostealers using the detection tool developed by ESET, provided on the website
www.operation-magnus.com
.
The police also shared some general tips to detect malicious activity, such as looking out for unexpected account activity, transactions, password problems, suspicious emails, data breach notifications, or unexpected software, such as programs or browser extensions running on the system.
Police teased Criminals with the 'Final Update'
Cybernews already reported that the police released
'the final update'
for the malware in the form of a short video resembling criminals’ own ads. The malware was advertised for sale on cybercrime forums and through Telegram channels that offer customer support and software updates.
"We gained full access to all Redline and Meta servers. Did you know they are actually pretty much the same? This version of Redline and Meta includes unique insights into your data. Username, passwords, IP addresses, timestamps, registration date, and much more,"
the clip announced.
The clip revealed that police gained access to the source code, servers, administrator panels listing many users, Telegram bots, etc. The police said that involved parties would be notified, and legal actions would be underway.
"VIP-status for all Redline and Meta users where VIP means very important to the police. Thank you for installing this update. We are looking forward to seeing you soon,"
the clip said while displaying handcuffs.
https://cybernews.com/news/three-arrested-as-police-dismantle-redline-and-meta-infostealers/
October 29, 2024