Europol shut down First VPN

Virtual private networks can be useful tools for securing business practices and protecting online privacy. However, if used by malicious users, a VPN service provider becomes a huge security threat and requires international involvement to address it.

Earlier this week, European authorities carried out a continent-wide operation targeting a crime-focused VPN service known as “First VPN.” Europol said the illegal service had been advertised for years on underground Russian-language forums as a “trusted” platform for cybercriminals seeking a safe haven for their malicious online activities.

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Europol worked with Eurojust , the EU's agency for criminal cases involving multiple member states. The two agencies coordinated with law enforcement and judicial authorities from 16 countries, completing a complex investigation that began in December 2021. Romanian-based cybersecurity company Bitdefender also participated in the operation.

First VPN was allegedly selling a range of illegal services, including anonymous payment mechanisms, hidden online infrastructure and other tools for all sorts of cybercriminal activity. Europol said they had found the VPN in almost every major criminal investigation in recent years. It facilitated a wide range of cybercriminal activities, including ransomware attacks, large-scale fraud operations, data theft and more.

Edvardas Šileris, head of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), said that "cybercriminals saw this VPN service as a gateway to anonymity. They believed it would keep them out of the reach of law enforcement. This operation proves them wrong."

When they discovered that First VPN was being advertised on underground forums, French and Dutch authorities began working together in 2022, exchanging evidence and developing a joint prosecution strategy. An additional layer of coordination was established in 2023, involving Eurojust and several other European agencies.

European authorities made arrests between May 19 and 20, targeting and dismantling the infrastructure behind First VPN. They arrested the VPN service’s administrator and conducted a search of a residence in Ukraine. Authorities dismantled 33 servers connected to the illegal VPN and shut down several DNS resources on both the surface web and the Tor network (onion services).

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