Operation Magnus targets Redline, Meta infostealers

Authorities say they've gained "full access" to the hackers' servers.

The Dutch National Police, the FBI, and a coalition of international law enforcement agencies disrupted two infostealer operations and gained “full access” to the criminals back-end infrastructure.

A website announcing the operation, posted Monday, showcases the latest effort by international authorities to disrupt cybercriminal infrastructure.

“On the 28th of October 2024 the Dutch National Police, working in close cooperation with the FBI and other partners of the international law enforcement task force Operation Magnus, disrupted operation of the RedLine and Meta infostealers,” the site says. “Involved parties will be notified, and legal actions are underway.”

Authorities say they have “all the RedLine and Meta source code,” as well as “license servers, REST-API-servers, panels, stealers, and Telegram bots.” The Dutch police said in a video posted to the website they also possess information about the infostealers’ users.

Infostealers are a form of malware that targets sensitive data such as passwords, login credentials and other personally identifiable information among others.  A long-standing part of the criminal ecosystem, threat actors use the data taken via infostealers for further attacks or to sell the information to other criminals.

Earlier this year, more than 165 companies were exposed to an infostealer malware targeting the data storage firm Snowflake which experts claim was a financially motivated operation.

 Cybersecurity experts note that Meta branched off from RedLine, which first appeared in 2020, but in the posted video, authorities note the infostealer servers are “pretty much the same.”

An FBI spokesperson did not provide any additional information when reached for comment.

 The Dutch police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Other U.S. agencies involved in Operation Magnus included the Defense Department’s Defense Criminal Investigative Unit, the Navy’s Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.

International authorities involved included the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Australian Federal Police, Portugal’s Polícia Judiciária, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, and the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service.

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