FluBot: Europol breaches massive hacker network

With the help of Europol, an international team of experts has broken into one of the most harmful hacker networks in recent years. It spread at an alarming speed.

International law enforcement agencies and security experts have destroyed a network of cybercriminals in a coordinated action. The collective known as “Flubot” spreads Android malware on mobile devices unhindered and at breakneck speed.

A total of eleven nations were involved in dismantling the network, mainly including European countries such as Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary and Spain, but also Australia and the United States. A targeted disruptive attack by Dutch police in May halted the spread of the malware and destroyed its technical base.

FluBot first appeared in December 2020, but the spread of malware only increased significantly during the following year. A very large number of final devices, not specified by Europol, were infected with malicious programs.

The cyber attacks were disguised as phishing to trick users into clicking on a link in a text message – for example, to check the delivery status of a package.

After opening the link, an infected file was loaded onto the smartphone, which could be used by the hackers to access personal data. At the same time, the smartphone’s internal security mechanisms were disabled, making it even more vulnerable to unauthorized access.