Police dismantle Kratos phishing platform behind 15,000 monthly campaigns - Help Net Security Help Net Security
newsletters: Daily and weekly news, cybersecurity jobs, open source projects, breaking news – subscribe here! News
Features CISO AI Videos Product showcase Industry news Reviews Whitepapers Events Newsletters Please turn on your
JavaScript for this page to function normally. Sinisa Markovic, Managing Editor, Help Net Security July 22, 2026 Share
Police dismantle Kratos phishing platform behind 15,000 monthly campaigns German and US law enforcement have dismantled
the infrastructure behind Kratos, a notorious phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform. Its alleged developer and
administrator was arrested in Indonesia by local police. Seizure banner (Source: BKA) The takedown was led by the
Frankfurt public prosecutor’s cybercrime unit (ZIT) and Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA),
working alongside US law enforcement. The suspect was arrested in Indonesia by local police. Authorities describe Kratos
as one of the “world’s most widely used criminal phishing services”, with victims confirmed in 35 countries,
mainly in Europe and the US. According to ZIT and BKA, Kratos gave low-skill cybercriminals a way to steal login
credentials such as passwords and email addresses through convincing Microsoft-themed phishing pages. “More than 1,800
criminal franchisees are believed to have acquired Kratos and used it to conduct approximately 15,000 phishing campaigns
per month. Each individual campaign had the potential to harm several thousand recipients worldwide,” the German
authorities said in a statement. Authorities estimate the operator made at least €300,000 from subscription fees since
2024. Buyers paid through a website and a Telegram-based shop, with cryptocurrency among the accepted payment options.
During the operation, 200 servers were seized, shutting down the service. “Anyone who steals login credentials
online using fake websites shouldn’t feel safe. The success against the Kratos phishing kit shows that even highly
professional phishing infrastructures can be effectively combated,” said Carsten Meywirth, Head of the Cybercrime
Department at the BKA. More about cybercrime EU law enforcement phishing Share Featured news Shadow AI is becoming
enterprise security’s biggest blind spot Multi-patch vulnerability fixes can leave open source exposed OpenAI: Our
models breached Hugging Face during a cyber capability test Download: The ultimate guide to network operations
management Resources Simplify security management with CIS SecureSuite Platform Download: The IT and security field
guide to AI adoption Download: Automating Pentest Delivery Guide Don't miss Shadow AI is becoming enterprise
security’s biggest blind spot Product Showcase: AppViewX Agent Identity Security Multi-patch vulnerability fixes
can leave open source exposed The AI code vulnerabilities that grow with your app OpenAI: Our models breached Hugging
Face during a cyber capability test Cybersecurity news HNS Daily Daily newsletter sent Monday-Friday HNS Newsletter
Weekly newsletter sent on Mondays InSecure Newsletter Editor's choice newsletter sent twice a month Cybersecurity
news alerts Periodical newsletter released for important security events and breaking news Cybersecurity jobs Weekly
newsletter listing new cybersecurity job positions Open source Monthly newsletter focusing on open source cybersecurity
tools Subscribe I have read and agree to the terms & conditions © Copyright 1998-2026 by Help Net Security Read our
privacy policy | About us | Advertise Follow us ×