Law enforcement just delivered another major blow to cybercriminal networks. Europol’s Operation ENDGAME, now in its third phase, has dismantled more than a thousand servers used to host and distribute malware. These global takedowns expose the infrastructure that fuels ransomware operations, but they also reveal something deeper: how quickly attackers adapt.
For SOC teams, this isn’t just a law enforcement success story, it’s a reminder that disruption is temporary. Staying ahead means detecting the next move as adversaries rebuild their tools and infrastructure.
1. The Largest-Ever Operation Against Botnets (May 2024)
In May 2024, Europol and a coalition of law enforcement agencies coordinated what they described as the largest-ever operation against botnets. This first phase of Operation ENDGAME targeted the infrastructure supporting modern cybercrime at scale.
The focus was on dropper malware, programs designed to silently deliver secondary payloads such as ransomware or credential stealers once a system is compromised. Authorities dismantled networks associated with IcedID, SystemBC, Pikabot, Bumblebee, Trickbot, and Smokeloader, all major components of the initial access ecosystem used by attackers to penetrate corporate networks.
More than 100 servers and around 2,000 domains were seized globally, cutting off communication between infected systems and their operators. Europol called it a “significant hit” to the underground economy that powers ransomware campaigns.
This first operation set the stage for a broader offensive, expanding from single malware families to the criminal supply chains behind them.
2. Breaking the Ransomware Kill Chain at Its Source (May 2025)
One year later, Europol announced the second wave of Operation ENDGAME, describing it as a strike against the ransomware kill chain at its source. Over 300 servers were taken offline and 650 domains neutralized, crippling the infrastructure used by criminal groups to distribute loaders and maintain persistence within victim environments.
This phase represented a strategic shift. Instead of dismantling specific malware operations, law enforcement went after initial access brokers (IABs), the specialists who sell access to compromised networks. By removing their infrastructure, the operation choked off the first stage of ransomware deployment.
Authorities also seized €3.5 million in cryptocurrency, bringing total seizures from Operation ENDGAME to over €21 million. The investigation revealed a global marketplace of access-for-hire, showing just how organized and scalable the ransomware economy has become.
But as investigators struck deeper into the ransomware supply chain, they also uncovered how resilient and distributed this infrastructure had become, and how quickly it could return.
3. End of the Game for Cybercrime Infrastructure (November 2025)
The most recent update, released in November 2025, marks the largest and most extensive phase of Operation ENDGAME so far. Authorities dismantled 1,025 servers in over 20 countries, effectively crippling infrastructure used to host, control, and distribute multiple forms of malware.
Intelligence from the earlier phases allowed investigators to map entire command-and-control ecosystems, exposing connections between phishing, credential theft, and ransomware operations that had compromised tens of thousands of systems worldwide.
Dozens of arrests were made, and forensic analysis of seized digital assets uncovered cryptocurrency wallets, stolen credentials, and codebases belonging to major malware operators. Europol called it the “end of the game” for several prolific malware families that relied on resilient, cloud-based hosting services to evade detection.
While this takedown significantly disrupted criminal capabilities, experts warn that cybercrime infrastructures regenerate fast. Once known servers and domains are taken down, new ones emerge, often hidden within legitimate cloud workloads or encrypted channels. For defenders, that means law enforcement can only go so far. Continuous detection must take over where disruption stops.
Why This Matters to SOC Teams
1. Disruptions Don’t Eliminate Threats
Operation ENDGAME proves that even massive infrastructure takedowns don’t eliminate risk. Attackers rebuild fast, often within days. For SOC teams, that means yesterday’s indicators of compromise quickly lose value. Static defenses and signature-based tools can’t keep up. The only sustainable approach is behavioral detection that identifies the techniques adversaries reuse, regardless of the infrastructure they operate from.
2. The Initial Access Layer Is Still the Weakest Link
Each phase of Operation ENDGAME has targeted a different tier of the criminal supply chain, but the focus on initial access brokers and dropper malware highlights the same truth: the earliest stages of compromise are often where defenses are thinnest.
These tools blend into legitimate network traffic and exploit the seams between endpoint, identity, and cloud monitoring. Detecting them requires cross-domain visibility, spotting unexpected authentication patterns, lateral movement, or abnormal data staging that signal a breach before ransomware deployment.
3. Hybrid and Cloud Environments
The seized servers in Operation ENDGAME weren’t confined to criminal hosting providers. Many were located in legitimate cloud environments, showing how attackers leverage the same platforms businesses rely on. This mirrors what SOC teams face daily: fragmented visibility across hybrid and SaaS environments where traditional perimeter defenses don’t apply.
Defenders must extend monitoring to where modern threats operate, within network traffic, identity systems, and cloud workloads. That’s the only way to detect attackers hiding among normal activity.
Continuous Visibility Is the Only Real Disruption
Operation ENDGAME shows that coordinated disruption works, but the real test begins after the takedown. Criminal groups rebuild, adapt, and migrate to new infrastructure faster than static defenses can keep up.
For SOC teams, continuous visibility and contextual detection are the only ways to stay ahead. The goal isn’t just to catch individual alerts, it’s to connect identity anomalies, privilege escalation, lateral movement, and data exfiltration into a single, actionable story that exposes attacker intent.
This is exactly where the Vectra AI Platform adds value. With agentless visibility across network, identity, and cloud, and AI-driven behavioral analytics, Vectra detects attacker behaviors as they emerge, even when the infrastructure is brand new. It turns fragmented signals into clear context so analysts can respond decisively, before attackers can rebuild.
See how the Vectra AI Platform detects what others miss. Start a self-guided demo and experience behavior-driven detection in action.