The IT Nerd

Over the last three days, three major malware strains have been taken down in a large-scale law enforcement operation called Operation Endgame 3.0.

The ongoing initiative was coordinated by Europol and spanned 11 countries including law enforcement agencies from six EU countries, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US, and over 30 private partners from the cybersecurity industry.  

Impacted infrastructure is linked to notorious infostealer Rhadamanthys, a remote access trojan called VenomRAT, and the Elysium botnet.

The mission also resulted in:

• Over 1025 servers taken down or disrupted
• 20 domains seized
• 11 locations searched
• The arrest of the suspected main operator of VenomRAT in Greece

Rhadamanthys infostealer “had grown to become one of the leading infostealers since Operation Endgame ‘Season 2’ disrupted the infostealer landscape,” according to a UK government-funded non-profit Shadowserver Foundation statement published on November 13.

This latest operation is the third series of takedowns of cybercrime-enabling infrastructure after Operation Endgame 1.0 (May 2024) and Operation Endgame 2.0 (April 2025).

Phil Wylie, Senior Consultant & Evangelist, Suzu had this to say:

   “This operation shows what’s possible when intelligence and collaboration align, but dismantling one infrastructure doesn’t end the threat. Threat actors adapt fast, and defenders must be faster.

   “To help reduce such risks, practicing good security hygiene is imperative, as well as proactive security measures including security assessments including penetration tests, and security controls validation.”

Michael Bell, Founder & CEO, Suzu:

   “It’s true that it’s cat and mouse, but impact isn’t measured by permanence. Impact is measured by disruption cost and defender advantage gained.

   “Operation Endgame 3.0 is forcing adversaries to rebuild 1,025 servers and reconstitute infrastructure across three major malware families (Rhadamanthys, VenomRAT, Elysium) means they’re investing resources in recovery instead of new attacks, and every credential rotation or system hardening that happens during this window reduces future attack surface.

   “The arrest of VenomRAT’s main operator and seizure of databases containing millions of stolen credentials also creates operational security paranoia within cybercrime networks because when your infrastructure gets seized, you don’t know what intelligence law enforcement now has about your customers, affiliates, and future plans.

   “So yes, they’ll rebuild, but these operations buy defenders time, degrade adversary confidence, and validate the public-private collaboration model that’s the only way to sustainably disrupt the cybercrime ecosystem.”

John Carberry, CMO, Xcape, Inc.:

   “Reports indicate that criminals are now locked out of Rhadamanthys control panels, causing significant operational challenges for those involved. Security teams should now scan endpoints for remaining threats, change tokens and credentials across their systems, and integrate new indicators of compromise (IOCs) from the takedown to identify any lingering infections. Expect subsequent phishing campaigns and criminals’ attempts to rebuild infrastructure as they adapt and try new methods.

   “The only way to win the cyberwar is to persistently decapitate the criminal infrastructure that runs the world’s malware economy.”

I welcome this news as the only way to beat cybercriminals is to make the cost of operation so high and so difficult that they abandon ransomware as a means to make money. This is a step towards that goal. But only a step as more needs to be done.

This week, Europol published a new report written with the help of industry experts, The Second Quantum Revolution: The impact of quantum computing and quantum technologies on law enforcement, which encourages law enforcers to start building their knowledge and assessing the potential impact of quantum computing technologies to ensure they are prepared for both new risks and opportunities.
 
The report highlighted five things police forces should be doing today to prepare for the quantum age:

1. Monitor developments continuously to identify potential new threats
2. Build knowledge and start experimenting to tap these new developments
3. Build a network of expertise with the scientific community for research and development work
4. Assess the impact of quantum on fundamental rights to ensure police use of the technology is proportionate
5. Review transition plans to ensure critical police systems are protected in the post-quantum era

“Quantum computing and quantum technologies hold significant potential to strongly impact law enforcement. From the analysis of large and complex data sets, to improved forensics capabilities and new ways of secure communication, the future promises significant opportunities to strengthen the fight against crime.
 
“Nevertheless, malicious actors could equally try to profit from such advancements and we have to prepare accordingly,” said Europol executive director, Catherine De Bolle.

George McGregor, VP, Approov Mobile Security:

   “It is important that law enforcement agencies are aware of the impact of quantum computing and this is a good contribution from the Europol Innovation Lab.  The recommendations could be less generic and more actionable however. For example, the document discusses the possibility of being able to decrypt currently inaccessible data in the future – it would be useful to provide guidelines on how to store data and to prepare for this eventuality. The report also encourages agencies to establish links and perform research in collaboration with industry experts – it would have been useful to highlight topics and areas of research to help drive this participation.”

All I have to say is that at least law enforcement isn’t being caught off guard. We’ve seen how most of us were caught flat footed by AI, and it’s nice to see history not repeat itself.