Posted on 12/22/2020 11:00:20 PM PST by bitt
Seized Websites Allegedly Offered VPN and Proxy Services To Individuals for Illegal Activities
DETROIT – United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today that law enforcement in the United States has worked jointly in support of an international takedown of a virtual private network (VPN), dubbed “Operation Nova.” Domain names offered by an organization engaged in “bulletproof hosting” that provided assistance to cyber-criminals were seized, and related servers were shut down. U.S.-based servers used in the scheme were taken offline by U.S. authorities, while International partners did the same.
Schneider was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Detroit.
The coordinated effort was led by the German Reutlingen Police Headquarters together with Europol, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies from around the world. Today, law enforcement from around the world conducted a coordinated takedown of servers in at least five different countries, in addition to the domain seizures.
The investigation revealed that three domains— INSORG.ORG; SAFE-INET.COM; SAFE-INET.NET.—offered “bulletproof hosting services” to website visitors. A “bulletproof hosting service” is an online service provided by an individual or an organization that is intentionally designed to provide web hosting or VPN services for criminal activity. These services are designed to facilitate uninterrupted online criminal activities and to allow customers to operate while evading detections by law enforcement. Many of these services are advertised on online forums dedicated to discussing criminal activity. A bulletproof hoster’s activities may include ignoring or fabricating excuses in response to abuse complaints made by their customer’s victims; moving their customer accounts and/or data from one IP address, server, or country to another to help them evade detection; and not maintaining logs (so that none are available for review by law enforcement). By providing these services, the bulletproof hosts knowingly support the criminal activities of their clients and become coconspirators in criminal schemes.
Much of the criminal activity occurring on the network involved cyber actors responsible for ransomware, E-skimming breaches, spearphishing, and account takeovers. The service’s website offered support in Russian and English languages, at a high price to the criminal underworld. This infrastructure preferred by cybercriminals was used to compromise networks all around the world.
The seized domains are in the custody of the federal government. Visitors to the sites will now find a seizure banner that notifies them that the domain name has been seized by federal authorities facilitating computer intrusions is a federal crime.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided investigative assistance. The Justice Department thanks Germany’s Reutlingen Police Headquarters (Polizeipräsidium Reutlingen), The Netherlands’ National Police (Politie), Switzerland’s Cantonal Police of Argovia (Kantonspolizei Aargau), France’s Judicial Police (Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire) and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) for their assistance and collaboration in this matter.
P
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
Germany together with Europe takes down SAFE-inet, world's network cybercriminals. Infrastructure, / server's seized in Germany the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, and the United States. pic.twitter.com/jnT9Beggy6— ROBERT 🇺🇸📷🕠 BUILDER, 🏛️ TEAM TRUMP MR NOBODY (@Robertl01464344) December 23, 2020
was smartmatics involved in the software used for the VPN?
Dunno - I was hoping they cracked down on a certain location in Frankfort, lol.....
Is this related to the cyberwar “The Russians” launched?
p
Dude. That should simply be a new post with its own thread.
Cyberteam in midst of scrubbing servers now and finding whatever sparked this investigation / seizure ( hopefully Michigan Elections and more ) Sure looks it, hence Warrant issued by Michigan Fed District Court pic.twitter.com/GlTqIyChoV— TRUMP'S PEN IS POWERFUL! CLEAN HOUSE!! Do it! (@TRiUMPh4_USA) December 23, 2020
They are related. It belongs here, as well as perhaps it’s own thread...
could be- i was just being a smart alec about smartmatic though- doubt they make software for VPNs- but who knows- perhaps they do
I hope Peggy from computer support is okay
Tell that to ETL.
Gen. Flynn said that a foreign intel agency offered to help. Maybe its operation was tracked and shut down.
If this VPN seizure is really related to vote fraud, we don't really know whether this will benefit Trump or not.
Under a Hiden/Ho administration, all VPNs illegal, just like in Communist China.
Adjusting my new virtual tinfoil head covering I wonder if this was a real criminal vpn or did the deep state take out opposition servers...
Ahhh...so only government approved VPNs are allowed.
Adjusting my new virtual tinfoil head covering I wonder if this was a real criminal vpn or did the deep state take out opposition servers...
ASSUME THE WORST....
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