Recognized force for good: Group-IB nets prestigious Benelux OSPA award for outstanding law enforcement initiative

AMSTERDAM, Oct. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Group-IB, a leading creator of cybersecurity technologies to investigate, prevent, and fight digital crime, is proud to be announced the winner of the 2023 Benelux Outstanding Security Performance Award (OSPA) for Outstanding Police/Law Enforcement Initiative. This milestone prize was awarded to Group-IB's Europe-based High-Tech Crime Investigations team for their continued efforts in cross-border operations alongside Europol and national law enforcement agencies to crack down on the dark web trade of compromised credit card data.

The award was presented to Dmitry Tunkin, Group-IB's Chief Regional Officer, Europe, during a ceremony held in the Dutch city of Breda on October 4, 2023, and recognizes Group-IB's long-standing cooperation with law enforcement agencies on the European continent, in line with the company's zero-tolerance policy to cybercrime.

"Group-IB is proud to be recognized by the organization committee of the Benelux OSPAs for its key role in Europol-led efforts to clamp down on traders of stolen credit cards. Fighting against cybercrime is at the heart of all we do at Group-IB, and as a result, strong cooperation with international and national law enforcement agencies continues to guide our strategy," Dmitry Tunkin, Group-IB's Chief Regional Officer, Europe, said.

Group-IB Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst Martijn van den Berk was also in the spotlight, having been nominated as a finalist for the Outstanding Young Security Professional honour after his diligent coordination with international law enforcement during investigations into multiple banking Trojans and phishing kits, and his victory in the Politie Hackathon 2022, organized by the Dutch Police.

Carding Action 2020 and Carding Action 2021, both led by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and with the support of national law enforcement agencies in EU member states, the United Kingdom, as well as Group-IB, were coordinated multinational operations aimed at combating the online trade of compromised credit card credentials. These two successful operations roughly prevented a combined total of €54 million in losses.

Over the past year, Group-IB's Europe-based Hi-Tech Cybercrime Investigations team also played a key role in the recent INTERPOL-led Operation Nervone, aimed at disrupting the activity of  OPERA1ER, a French-speaking financially-motivated cybercrime syndicate believed to have stolen at least $11 million during attacks on banks, financial services firms, and telecommunications companies. Group-IB intelligence was used to detain a suspect in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in the summer of 2023.