Operation Synergia II sees Interpol swoop on global cyber crims

Interpol is reporting a big win after a massive combined operation against online criminals made 41 arrests and seized hardware thought to be used for nefarious purposes.

Operation Synergia II – the follow up to the first Synergia raids that were announced in February – saw cops in 95 countries crack down on phishers, ransomware extortionists, and information thieves around the world. The operation was carried out in conjunction with the corporate world, specifically Group-IB, Trend Micro, Kaspersky and Team Cymru.

In addition to the arrests, Interpol revealed 65 people are still under investigation and claimed to have shuttered 22,000 IP addresses, taken control of 59 servers and 43 other computing devices.

“The global nature of cyber crime requires a global response which is evident by the support member countries provided to Operation Synergia II,” declared Neal Jetton, head of Interpol’s Cybercrime Directorate.

“Together, we’ve not only dismantled malicious infrastructure but also prevented hundreds of thousands of potential victims from falling prey to cyber crime. Interpol is proud to bring together a diverse team of member countries to fight this ever-evolving threat and make our world a safer place.”

Operations cited include:

• China – In Hong Kong police identified and took offline 1,037 servers that were being used for criminal purposes;
• Macao – Another 291 servers were disconnected;
• Mongolia – After cops raided 21 houses they recovered a server and found “93 individuals with links to illegal cyber activities.”
• Madagascar – Police found 11 electronic devices and interviewed 11 people thought to be linked with online crime;
• Estonia – Law enforcement made a haul of 80GB of data that is being analyzed for its links to banking malware and phishing.

The global reach of Interpol makes operations like this possible. The largest law enforcement organization in the world, it has support from 196 nations – the only remaining holdouts are Western Sahara, North Korea, the Pacific island of Kiribati, and Taiwan. That last would love to be a member, but has been excluded ever since China joined in 1984. ®

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