Interpol has announced the successful takedown of a large-scale cybercrime operation, arresting 41 individuals and dismantling over 1,037 servers involved in cybercriminal activities across 22,000 IP addresses.
The coordinated action, known as Operation Synergia II, spanned April to August 2024 and involved law enforcement from 95 countries, targeting cyber threats such as ransomware, phishing, and data-stealing malware.
Backed by intelligence from cybersecurity firms including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, and Team Cymru, Interpol was able to identify over 30,000 suspicious IP addresses, successfully taking down 76% of these. Authorities seized 59 servers and 43 devices, which will undergo further examination to gather more evidence.
The operation had notable achievements across multiple regions:
- Hong Kong: Over 1,037 malicious servers were dismantled.
- Mongolia: Police carried out 21 searches, confiscated a server, and identified 93 individuals.
- Macau: Police took 291 servers offline.
- Madagascar: Authorities seized 11 electronic devices and identified 11 individuals connected to malicious servers.
- Estonia: Over 80GB of server data was confiscated, with a focus on phishing and banking malware.
Neal Jetton, Director of Interpol’s Cybercrime Directorate, emphasized the importance of global cooperation in combating cybercrime, noting that the operation protected hundreds of thousands of potential victims from becoming targets. He also highlighted emerging threats, noting a rise in generative AI use in phishing schemes and a 70% increase in information-stealing malware, often leading to ransomware attacks.
Interpol’s latest action underscores the urgent need to address phishing, ransomware, and info-stealers, which it currently considers among the most severe cyber threats globally.
