European officials highlight private sector help in major cybercrime takedowns
European officials highlight private sector help in major cybercrime takedowns
Publish Date: 2026-03-25 19:02:00
Source Domain: www.nextgov.com
SAN FRANCISCO — Private sector partners got a special shoutout in a panel of top European cyber law enforcement officials Wednesday as they discussed industry involvement in major takedowns of cybercrime groups.
At RSAC Conference, Dutch National Police cybercrime director Stan Dujif, UK National Crime Agency cyber crime unit lead Paul Foster, and Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt cyber division head Carsten Meywirth all acknowledged industry’s role in takedowns of cybercriminals’ digital infrastructure and the arrests of those allegedly involved in hacking schemes.
Just days before the U.S. and international partners went after LockBit — a prolific ransomware group — Foster said that private sector partners were brought in to be briefed about the forthcoming takedown. Industry was especially helpful in affirming that the takedown was legitimate so other criminal hackers couldn’t fill the void.
“So much of the amplification narrative came from private partners, rather than just law enforcement,” Foster said.
Private sector partners also estimated how long any law enforcement action would keep the notorious Scattered Spider group suppressed before it was able to reconstitute. Last July, arrests of alleged criminal gang operatives commenced. Paul said that estimates came in at six weeks and the true number ended up being five weeks.
Cybercrime is unique in the cybersecurity world because, unlike nation-state intelligence services, criminal hackers can operate across jurisdictions and rely on commercial infrastructure, often leaving a trail that private cybersecurity firms can track and help disrupt.
Industry involvement was designed as part of Operation Endgame, an ongoing international law enforcement initiative led by Europol and others that launched in May 2024 to dismantle critical criminal hacker infrastructure, said Maywirth.
“Nowadays for us, it is quite normal to integrate private partners as well in the operations. We proved that, and we had a…
