A coalition of international law enforcement agencies recently announced the success of “Operation Magnus,” which aimed to dismantle the operations of two notorious infostealers known as Redline and Meta. These malware were specifically designed to steal sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, search histories, and cryptocurrency wallet contents from infected systems.
The Dutch National Police, leading the operation, revealed that they had gained full access to the servers used by Redline and Meta. Redline, in particular, has been a prevalent strain of infostealer malware since 2020. Criminals have utilized Redline to steal data from hundreds of millions of individuals, including high-profile incidents like the Uber hack in 2022 and the breach of Israel’s National Cybersecurity Directorate.
On the other hand, Meta is a relatively new infostealer, but Operation Magnus found that both Redline and Meta servers were quite similar in nature. The law enforcement agencies were able to obtain crucial information such as usernames, passwords, IP addresses, timestamps, registration dates, source code for the malware, and Telegram bots used by the operators.
Additionally, the agencies hinted at a list of usernames belonging to “VIP” users of the Redline and Meta infostealers, suggesting that legal actions were in progress. While it remains unclear if any arrests have been made, the authorities assured that legal proceedings were underway.
Operation Magnus received support from prominent agencies like the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.K.’s National Crime Agency. The takedown was publicized through a dedicated website exposing the Redline and Meta operations. Further details regarding the operation are expected to be released by the Dutch National Police spokesperson, Simone van Wordragen.
This operation follows a similar approach taken in the recent crackdown on LockBit, where law enforcement agencies took control of the ransomware gang’s dark web leak site to disclose information about the operation. Such coordinated efforts are essential in combatting cyber threats and safeguarding sensitive data from malicious actors.
