The head of the FBI announced the elimination of the US and European countries of the hacker network Qakbot

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WASHINGTON, 29 August. /TASS/. The United States, with the participation of Great Britain, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania and France, as part of "one of the largest anti-botnet operations in US history," eliminated the Qakbot hacker network. This is stated in a widespread statement by the Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray.

According to him, cybercriminals used Qakbot "for extortion, financial fraud and other criminal activities using cyber technologies." "The FBI neutralized this large-scale criminal chain, stopped it in the bud," the head of the bureau added. He said that the hackers used the malware of the same name, which infected more than 700,000 computers and "contributed to the spread of ransomware viruses, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to businesses, medical institutions and government agencies around the world."

After Qakbot, developed back in 2008, was downloaded to a computer, it began to download additional malware, including ransomware. In addition, this device became part of a botnet and could be remotely controlled by hackers. At the same time, users of infected computers, as a rule, did not even suspect that they had become victims of this software. As Ray explained, in order to eliminate the network, the FBI redirected Qakbot traffic to bureau-controlled servers, which downloaded a file that removed this malware to infected computers. It disconnected infected computers from the botnet and prevented the installation of additional malware.

 

[Carding]

Checkmate: Qakbot died a brave death

Operation Duck Hunt reveals the cards.

The US authorities announced a successful international operation to eliminate the malicious platform "Qakbot", which is widely used by cybercriminals for financial crimes. The operation was codenamed "Duck Hunt".

"Qakbot" was first discovered more than a decade ago. It spreads through malicious emails sent to victims.

The operation involved the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as law enforcement agencies in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Romania and Latvia.

Martin Estrada, the US attorney, said that the action against Qakbot was the largest technological and financial operation in the history of their fight against botnets.

Cybersecurity experts believe that "Qakbot" probably originates from Russia and attacked organizations in different countries of the world.

According to Estrada, Qakbot infected more than 700,000 victims ' computers, contributed to the spread of ransomware viruses, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to businesses, medical institutions, and government agencies around the world.

As part of the operation, 52 servers were seized both in the United States and in other countries.

Experts found evidence that from October 2021 to April 2023, the administrators of" Qakbot " received fees worth about $ 58 million from victims as ransoms.

To paralyze the cybercrime network, the FBI redirected Qakbot's Internet traffic to special bureau servers, which allowed the malware to be removed from the victims ' computers.

FBI Director Christopher Wray noted that victims of the attacks included financial institutions on the East Coast, a government critical infrastructure contractor in the Midwest, and a medical device manufacturer on the West Coast.

"The FBI destroyed this criminal structure, stopping its activities," he stressed.