Europol Busts Cybercrime Ring, Enlists Barclays to Fight Attacks (June 30, 2015)
Cybercrime investigators from six European countries joined forces and recently busted a large gang of cybercriminals that had used malware in a widespread attack on online banking systems across the Eurozone, resulting in losses of at least €2 million (US$2.22 million), according to Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency. Now Europol is suggesting it could improve efforts to crack down on cybercrime by working more closely with financial services organizations to track criminal trends and share key information. Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre and Barclays this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand their cooperation to exchange strategic information, spot patterns, and more effectively leverage their collective expertise and statistical data to fight cybercrime, Europol said. Europol previously has signed MoUs with security firms and groups, such as Intel, Kaspersky, CCIS and Mnemonic Intelligence.
Europol last week disclosed details of a major cybercrime action involving the arrests on June 18 and 19 of five suspects in the Ukraine believed to be involved in developing, exploiting and distributing Zeus and SpyEye malware to attack online banking systems in Europe and beyond, continuously updating these banking Trojans to defeat banks’ security measures. The cybercriminals allegedly created malware, infected machines, harvested bank credentials and laundered money through “money mule” networks, trading information on underground networks. A joint investigation team of investigators and judicial authorities from Austria, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.K. cooperated on the investigation, which was connected to a wider investigation they began in 2013, according to Europol.
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