Ten Nations Jointly Take Down VPN Service Used by Criminals for Cyberattacks

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The law enforcement authorities of ten countries have jointly eliminated a VPN service called VPNLab.net that has been used by criminals to carry out cyber attacks, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) announced in a release on Monday.

"This week, law enforcement authorities took action against the criminal misuse of VPN services as they targeted the users and infrastructure of VPNLab.net," the release said. "The VPN provider’s service, which aimed to offer shielded communications and internet access, were being used in support of serious criminal acts such as ransomware deployment and other cybercrime activities."

Europol noted that coordinated "disruptive actions," led by the Central Criminal Office of the Hannover Police Department in Germany, were undertaken on Sunday and have seized or disrupted 15 servers used by cybercriminals.

"VPNLab.net was established in 2008, offering services based on OpenVPN technology and 2048-bit encryption to provide online anonymity for as little as $60 per year," the release said. "The service also provided double VPN, with servers located in many different countries."

Europol noted that this made VPNLab.net a popular choice for cybercriminals, who could use its services to carry on committing their crimes without fear of detection by the authorities. The agency also said the investigation identified more than 100 businesses as at risk of cyberattacks.

"Law enforcement is working directly with these potential victims to mitigate their exposure," Europol added.

The authorities of Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom took part in the operation, according to the release.