Team Cymru Reports 573 Arrests in INTERPOL-Coordinated Operation Across Africa
Summary
Team Cymru says Operation Sentinel supported law enforcement in 19 African countries, resulting in 573 arrests, $3 million recovered, more than 6,000 malicious links taken down and six ransomware variants decrypted.
Key points
- Team Cymru reports that Operation Sentinel, coordinated with INTERPOL under the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime, supported law enforcement in 19 countries and led to 573 arrests and recovery of $3 million.
- The operation reportedly took down more than 6,000 malicious links and decrypted six ransomware variants.
- In Senegal, authorities reportedly halted a $7.9 million transfer from a petroleum company targeted by a business email compromise scheme.
- In Ghana, identifying a ransomware strain and developing a decryption tool reportedly enabled recovery of nearly 30 terabytes of data from a financial institution; multiple suspects were arrested.
- The operation reportedly dismantled a Ghana-Nigeria cyber-fraud network, resulting in 10 arrests and the takedown of 30 fraudulent servers.
- In Benin, authorities reportedly took down 43 malicious domains and 4,318 scam- and extortion-linked social media accounts, with 106 arrests.
Article Details
- Event Type
- International law-enforcement cybercrime operation targeting business email compromise, digital extortion, and ransomware.
- Impact
- Operation Sentinel resulted in 573 arrests, recovery of $3 million, disruption of attacks in progress, and takedown of more than 6,000 malicious links. Interventions also stopped a $7.9 million transfer from a petroleum company in Senegal, enabled recovery of nearly 30 terabytes of data after a ransomware attack on a Ghanaian financial institution, and dismantled cyber-fraud activity across Ghana and Nigeria.
Malware
Danabotas part of Operation Endgame. These operations helped disrupt the versatile and persistent Trojan DanaBot, the Rhadamanthys infostealer, the remote access Trojan VenomRAT, and the brand new proxy botnet serviceRhadamanthysof Operation Endgame. These operations helped disrupt the versatile and persistent Trojan DanaBot, the Rhadamanthys infostealer, the remote access Trojan VenomRAT, and the brand new proxy botnet service Elysium. VenomRATthe versatile and persistent Trojan DanaBot, the Rhadamanthys infostealer, the remote access Trojan VenomRAT, and the brand new proxy botnet service Elysium.
Vendors
Countries
BeninTaking down 43 malicious domains and 4,318 extortion scheme and scam-linked social media accounts in Benin, leading to 106 arrests. GhanaDismantling a cyber-fraud network operating across Ghana and Nigeria, leading to 10 arrests and the takedown of 30 fraudulent servers. NigeriaDismantling a cyber-fraud network operating across Ghana and Nigeria, leading to 10 arrests and the takedown of 30 fraudulent servers. SenegalHalting the transfer of $7.9 million USD from a major petroleum company in Senegal after a sophisticated BEC scheme