Over 1,000 malicious IP addresses in Singapore taken down in Interpol-led crackdown

More than 1,000 malicious IP addresses in Singapore were taken down in a four-month Interpol-led operation involving law enforcement agencies in 26 countries.

The joint operation - dubbed Operation Secure - was conducted between January and April 2025, and targeted a type of malware known as "infostealers".

According to Interpol, infostealers are tools for gaining unauthorised access to organisational networks.

This type of malicious software extracts sensitive data from infected devices, including browser credentials, passwords, cookies, credit card details and cryptocurrency wallet data.

Logs harvested by infostealers are increasingly traded by cyber criminals and frequently used as a gateway for further attacks, Interpol said in a statement on June 11.

These logs often enable initial access for ransomware deployments, data breaches and cyber-enabled fraud schemes, it added.

Interpol said Operation Secure managed to take down 20,000 malicious IP addresses and domains, seize 41 servers and over 100 gigabytes of data, and nab 32 suspects.

More than 1,000 of these IP addresses were in Singapore, taken down with the joint efforts of the Cybercrime Command - under the Criminal Investigation Department of the Singapore Police Force - and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA).

Interpol said over 216,000 victims and potential victims were notified, so they could change their passwords, freeze their accounts or remove unauthorised access.

The Singapore police said on June 11 that its active participation in Operation Secure "reinforces (its) commitment to safeguarding Singaporeans from increasingly sophisticated cyber crime".

"Our strong collaboration with key local and international partners in Operation Secure was a key success factor in dismantling these cyber-criminal networks," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Tay, head of the Cybercrime Command.

"We will continue to work with CSA and other like-minded partners to protect Singaporeans and businesses from threats in cyber space, and will spare no effort to disrupt cyber criminals and their operations," he added.