Lolek Bulletproof Hosting Servers Seized, 5 Key Operators Arrested

European and U.S. law enforcement companies have declared the dismantling of a bulletproof hosting company company identified as Lolek Hosted, which cybercriminals have made use of to start cyber-attacks throughout the globe.

“5 of its administrators ended up arrested, and all of its servers seized, rendering LolekHosted.net no for a longer period available,” Europol said in a assertion.

“The services facilitated the distribution of details-stealing malware, and also the launching of DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, fictitious on the net shops, botnet server management, and distribution of spam messages globally,” it extra.

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Polish authorities, who produced the arrests, said 3 other detainees have been subjected to preventive actions in the form of law enforcement supervision, bail, and a ban on leaving the nation. Alongside the arrests, hundreds of servers containing terabytes of knowledge, laptop or computer equipment, and cell phones have been confiscated.

The seizure, carried out on August 8, 2023, serves as an indicator of the intensifying efforts carried out by governments to disrupt the foundations of cybercriminal networks and neuter avenues for illegitimate gains.

Central to Lolek Hosted’s offerings had been its privacy and anonymity options that promised a no-log policy and the capacity to make payments in cryptocurrencies.

Bulletproof hosting providers have very long been contentious owing to the simple fact that operators of these types of platforms are inclined to willingly transform a blind eye to the form of information that could be uploaded and distributed through the domains rented by their customers.

This has made them interesting havens for criminal teams seeking to disseminate malware, orchestrate botnet attacks, as nicely as execute myriad types of cybercrime and fraud.

In accordance to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Lolek Hosted “facilitated the operation of ransomware attacks and the subsequent laundering of the illicit proceeds.”

Artur Karol Grabowski, its 36-12 months-old founder, has been accused of letting clients to register accounts using untrue data, disregarding abuse problems submitted by third-get-togethers from clients, and notifying shoppers of legal inquiries been given from regulation enforcement.

“Grabowski registered the area ‘LolekHosted.net’ in 2014, and marketed that its services had been ‘bulletproof,’ presented ‘100% privacy hosting,’ and authorized customers to host ‘everything other than little one porn,'” the DoJ mentioned in a coordinated press statement.

Lolek Hosted is also alleged to have aided in the execution of about 50 NetWalker ransomware attacks, with the servers utilized as intermediaries by its clients when getting unauthorized accessibility to focus on networks and to shop hacking resources and info stolen from victims.

If convicted on all counts of personal computer fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and worldwide revenue laundering, Grabowski, who continues to be a fugitive, faces a optimum penalty of 45 decades in prison. He is also the topic of a $21.5 million seizure buy.

The joint endeavor will come as Europe and the U.S. have built it a position in latest yrs to acquire down prison infrastructures abetting risk actors to carry out destructive routines, such as brute-force, distributed denial-of-company (DDoS), phishing, and ransomware attacks.

It also follows the sentencing of Mihai Ionut Paunescu in June 2023 for running an additional bulletproof hosting company named PowerHost[.]ro provider that enabled the deployment of Gozi, BlackEnergy, SpyEye, and Zeus backdoors.

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