Smokeloader Malware Clients Detained as Police Seize Critical Servers

It has been reported that law enforcement agencies across Europe and North America have made additional arrests to dismantle the illicit ecosystem supporting malware distribution and deployment as part of a wider global effort. As part of Operation Endgame, which was launched in May 2024, we aim to disrupt the cyberattack supply chain by focusing on both the developers and the technical infrastructure behind several high-profile malware strains, which is known as Operation Endgame. 

IcedID, SystemBC, Pikabot, Smokeloader, Bumblebee, and Trickbot were just a few of the malware families identified in this investigation—all of which have played an important role in enabling a wide variety of cybercriminal activities over the years. The latest development in this matter has been the arrest of multiple people identified as customers of the Smokeloader botnet, a malware-as-a-service platform which operates based on a pay-per-install-based marketing strategy. 

An administrator of the botnet, a cybercriminal operating under the alias “Superstar”, is believed to have found these individuals by looking at a customer database maintained by the botnet’s administrator. As Europol explained, the arrested parties used Smokeloader to gain unauthorized access to victims’ systems and engaged in a series of malicious activities, including logging keystrokes, monitoring webcams, deploying ransomware, crypto mining, and other forms of cyber exploitation, all in violation of

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