Europol has taken offline a virtual private network (VPN) widely used by cybercriminals. In ten countries simultaneously, servers were seized or disrupted on Monday, resulting in which VPNLab.net no longer working.

 

The police took action in the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom. The police in Hanover, Germany, led the operation.

VPNLab.net has been active since 2008 and offered good online privacy for little money. However, there was talk of a so-called double VPN because the connection went through servers in multiple countries. Cybercriminals took advantage of this, making them difficult to trace.

Police services tracked down the VPN provider after multiple investigations revealed that cybercriminals were using it. VPNLab.net also advertised itself on the dark web.

After the raids, more than 100 organizations have been informed that they are at risk of a cyber-attack. Security forces immediately started to help prevent this, according to Europol.