(LOS ANGELES) U.S. law enforcement officials announced on Tuesday that they have taken down an international hacking ring called Qakbot, which has infected more than 700,000 computers worldwide and cost ransomed victims tens of millions of dollars in total.
The international operation to neutralize the network’s infrastructure was carried out in cooperation with the French, British, German, Dutch, Romanian and Latvian police and judicial authorities, Federal Prosecutor Martin Estrada said in a press conference in Los Angeles. , reporting the seizure of $8.6 million in cryptocurrencies.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed in a press release the participation of France, Germany and the Netherlands in this operation, which took place on August 26. Of the more than 700,000 hacked machines, 26,000 were in France, according to the same source, and more than 200,000 in the United States, the American federal police said.
The proliferation of computers hacked by Qakbot, launched in 2008, has made it “the malware of choice for cybercriminals around the world,” Estrada explained.
Among the companies targeted across the United States, he cited an energy engineering company, financial services companies, food distribution and a producer of defense equipment, without identifying them specifically.
The prosecutor also did not mention any suspects or arrests, stressing that the investigation was continuing.