Researchers destroy dangerous malware network ‘Qakbot’

Law enforcement authorities in the US and Germany, among others, have dealt a major blow to internet crime: cross-border cooperation has weakened the international malware network “Qakbot”. The German Federal Investigation Service (BKA) and the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) at the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office announced this on Wednesday.

The procedure targets the operators and administrators of the malware, who are currently unknown. In Germany, researchers have taken over the network’s server infrastructure.

Flammable malware

“Qakbot” is considered one of the most dangerous malware in the world. The perpetrators controlled a botnet that allegedly spanned more than 700,000 computer systems last year alone. For example, the Windows computers got infected through faulty email attachments. The data from the computer was forwarded to the perpetrators and the infected computer became part of the botnet, a network of compromised computers.

“The destruction of the ‘Qakbot’ infrastructure is another decisive success in the fight against cybercrime,” said Carsten Meywirth, head of the BKA’s cybercrime division. The US authorities had taken the lead in the cross-border investigation. “‹Qakbot› performed multiple attacks and, as a so-called dropper, often served as a door opener for other malware, notably ransomware with a huge potential for damage.”

The damage caused by these activities is estimated at the equivalent of several hundred million francs.

“The success of the investigation is further proof that international cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the fight against cybercrime is working,” said ZIT spokesman Benjamin Krause. In addition to the European authorities Europol and Eurojust, police authorities from the Netherlands, France and Great Britain were also involved. The US federal police, the FBI, was in charge of the operation.

The internet is not an anonymous, lawless space. There, too, investigations are consistently and successfully conducted, said Federal Interior Secretary Nancy Faeser (SPD). The dismantling of infrastructures offered worldwide for criminal purposes is “a very decisive factor in the fight against crime,” Faeser emphasized in a statement published Wednesday. “Our security authorities will continue to respond quickly and flexibly to new developments by cybercriminals.”

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(t-online/dsc)