Europol arrests Zeus and SpyEye malware gang in Ukraine

In a statement, the organisation said that the unnamed individuals had been picked up at four cities in Ukraine after an intensive Belgian and Austrian investigation stretching back to 2013.

There have been a number of arrests in the past connected to this malware - Europol puts the arrest figure at 26 people plus 34 low-level money mules - but the latest action could be the most important yet.

Described as being “high level” figures with specialisms involved in the malware’s development, distribution, targeting of ATMs as well as the trading of stolen credentials on underground forums, the implication is that the operation has blown a hole in one of the worlds most active cybercrime groups.

Europol said it estimated the financial damage done by this family of malware as being at least EUR 2 million.