In a joint operation, the law enforcement authorities from multiple countries recently took down three Bulletproof VPN services. These services facilitated cybercriminals in executing various malicious activities globally.
Bulletproof VPN Services Took Down
Recently, the law enforcement agencies from the US, and European countries Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, executed a coordinated operation against malicious VPNs. Dubbed “Operation Nova”, the LEAs took down three bulletproof VPN services in this operation.
Led by the German Reutlingen Police Headquarters, Europol, and the FBI, the authorities took offline the systems belonging to three of such domains. These were INSORG.ORG, SAFE-INET.COM, and SAFE-INET.NET.
Alongside shutting down the websites, the agencies also seized the services’ servers in at least five countries.
These three entities offered services in Russian and English languages, thereby facilitating cybercriminals globally. Whereas, they demanded a high price for their services.
The Europol has also disclosed details about this coordinated activity against the Safe-Inet VPN in a press release. As described, the service remained active for more than ten years and had facilitated various ransomware attacks, e-skimming attacks, and other crimes.
What Is Bulletproof VPN?
Bulletproof VPN is a term describing a VPN service that deliberates facilitates cybercriminals by providing robust anonymity against law enforcement. Such services are often advertised on the dark web forums to attract users (cybercriminals).
Describing further how these services facilitate cybercrimes, a press release from the US Dept. of Justice reads,
A bulletproof hoster’s activities may include ignoring or fabricating excuses in response to abuse complaints made by their customer’s victims; moving their customer accounts and/or data from one IP address, server, or country to another to help them evade detection; and not maintaining logs (so that none are available for review by law enforcement). By providing these services, the bulletproof hosts knowingly support the criminal activities of their clients and become coconspirators in criminal schemes.
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