Woburn, MA – August 16, 2021 - Tomorrow Unlocked, Kaspersky’s documentary production unit, is releasing the latest episode of its hacker:HUNTER series ‘Emotet vs The World Police’. The film reveals the details of an international operation, which resulted in the takedown of Emotet, one of the most dangerous botnets and cybercrime services of the past decade. The documentary is exclusively premiering on Tomorrow Unlocked’s YouTube channel on August 18. This is the fifth episode in the hacker:HUNTER real cybercrime series.
Through the eyes of prosecutors and police officers from Germany, the Netherlands and Ukraine, the film recounts how international police cooperation brought down this extraordinary cyber-criminal business. Internationally recognized cybersecurity researchers add a broader perspective and try to predict what might come after Emotet. “The police were able to stop these criminals, because they started thinking like cybercriminals,” states a researcher, summing up the operation in the documentary.
Emotet essentially was at the forefront of the commoditization of network access, functioning as a background facilitator for cybercrime that happened around the globe. In some ways, Emotet was akin to the organized mob of the 20th century – offerings the means to commit the crimes; in the later years of their operation, they never really carried out the attacks themselves, which made them hard to catch. Emotet opened up doors to cybercrime groups that launched severe attacks on various high-value targets and organizations that are often considered off-limits – such as hospitals.
The new Hacker:Hunter film follows the story behind Emotet’s dealings and the operation that led to Emotet’s demise, offering a glimpse behind the scenes and sharing the experiences of people that led the investigation.
The feature was directed by Jessica Benhamou and produced by Max Peltz and Stephen Robert Morse. The hacker:HUNTER series was created by Hugo Berkeley, who also directed the first two documentaries of the series - about the Carbanak group and the WannaCry ransomware attack. Full credits can be found on IMDB.
“As cybercrime progresses and cybercriminals work together, we see that the authorities have to offer a corresponding response and work closely to fight the threats and people behind them,´ says Jessica Benhamou, the director of ‘hacker:HUNTER Ha(ck)cine’. “I think often people do not realise how much effort actually goes into bringing a cybergang down. I am excited that we got to show how many passionate, dedicated people across the borders worked together to make this happen”.
To learn more about the makings of the film, join a live stream with Marco Preuss, director of Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team, Europe, Jessica Benhamou, the director of this hacker:HUNTER episode and Rainer Bock, hacker:HUNTER’s Executive Producer, on August 18th at 5 pm CEST.
The new hacker:Hunter Emotet vs The World Police goes live on August 18th at 5:30 PM CEST. Watch the trailer for the film here.Watch all hacker:HUNTER episodes at www.tomorrowunlocked.com/guardians/hacker_hunter/
About Kaspersky
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.
About Tomorrow Unlocked
Tomorrow Unlocked is an online magazine for technology culture, and a film production house, created by Kaspersky. It focuses on stories showing how technology helps us create a better future, providing a mix of background reading, documentary films and quick essentials. Learn more at www.tomorrowunlocked.com.
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