European authorities remove ‘most dangerous’ malware network

European authorities remove ‘most dangerous’ malware network

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The malware, Emotet, gained access to users’ computers through infected e-mail attachments, including documents claiming to be ‘invoices, shipping notices and information about Covid-19’, European police agency Europol said. coordinated, said in a statement Wednesday.

“The Emotet infrastructure has essentially acted as a primary door opener for global computer systems,” Europol said. “After this unauthorized access was established, it was sold to other criminal groups at the highest level to institute further illegal activities such as data theft and extortion.”

The global effort to disrupt and take over the compromised network, known as a botnet, has been carried out jointly between eight countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. The network consists of hundreds of servers around the world, Europol said.
An investigation by the Dutch police yielded a database of email addresses, passwords and usernames compromised by Emotet. Users can use this link to check if their email addresses have been violated.
According to the U.S. Cyber ​​Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the malware rebounded last year, describing a significant increase in malicious cyber-actors targeting state and local governments with Emotet phishing emails. “This increase has given Emotet one of the most common ongoing threats, ‘CISA added.

Europol has urged internet users to update the antivirus tools of their device and to be more careful to prevent them from attacking malware.

“Users should carefully check their email and avoid opening messages and especially attachments from unknown senders,” he said. “If a message is too good to be true, it’s likely that emails asking for a sense of urgency should be avoided at all costs.”

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