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Interested parties only get a message from the police authorities on the provider's website
In a coordinated action, European and American police authorities have closed the provider DoubleVPN.
The investigators accuse the service of hiding ransomware blackmailers and online fraudsters.
Servers were seized in numerous countries, rendering the service unusable, as Europol announced in The Hague on Wednesday.
DoubleVPN offered what is known as a Virtual Private Network, i.e. an encrypted Internet connection with which the origin of a criminal attack can be concealed. With a VPN, users can secure their communication, log into the company network from their home office or use streaming offers in other countries. DoubleVPN is said to have advertised specifically in underground forums and promised criminals protection from persecution if, for example, they queried the access data of their victims with fake e-mails.
According to Europol, 600 people used the service, which was available for amounts from 22 euros.
Investigators from nine countries took part in the shutdown, including the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Central Office for Combating Internet and Computer Crime of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt am Main.
tmk / dpa / Reuters
