One-two punch delivered in global operation disrupts cybercrime "assembly line"

Company attorneys invoked RICO statutes after finding overlapping infrastructure between the tools, allowing the legal action to treat them as a single conspiracy. Microsoft said the operation disrupted more than 200 command-and-control servers and severed criminal control of more than 18,000 infected computers.

Europol, which coordinated the law-enforcement part of the operation, said it recovered as many as 27 million stolen login credentials and uncovered $47 million worth of "crypto assets of criminal origin." During the action, 326 servers and 142 domains were actioned by law enforcement and private-sector partners, severely crippling the malware's distribution network, Europol said.

Other companies assisting in Operation Endgame include ESET, Proofpoint and IBM X-Force, Bitsight, and Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions.

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