Security · Updated 29 Oct, 02:17 am IST
U.S. seizes Virtualine bulletproof hosting domain tied to cybercrime
Why it matters for readers: It shows how a service marketed to hide criminal activity can be investigated and shut down by global law enforcement.
- The FBI seized Virtualine's primary domain, virtualine[.net], after an investigation with partners in Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., and private firms OverRIPE and Lumen.1
- Virtualine operated under multiple names including Secury, Massgod, Spamhouse, Lanedo, and Omegatech and marketed services that enabled illegal/black hat activities like phishing, spamming, carding and port scanning.1
- Authorities say Virtualine knowingly hosted an online forum promoting child sexual abuse material and ignored repeated notices from law enforcement, NCMEC, and a victim's attorney.1
- After legal pressure, Virtualine allegedly worked with the forum administrators to set up a new site and continued to host it, receiving at least one abuse complaint.1
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