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# VPNLab.net takedown

January 2022, Criminal hosting and proxies
Led by [Bundeskriminalamt](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/bundeskriminalamt)

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

Servers seized in a coordinated multi-country operation.

[See what happened](#what-happened)

What happened to the people?

No individual outcomes are recorded against this entry.
Group accounted for: Not established

[See people and accountability](#people)

Did it stay down?

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

[See what happened afterward](#afterward)

## What happened

A German/international coalition seized VPNLab.net, a VPN service used by cybercriminals including ransomware affiliates to anonymize their operations.

**Date:** January 2022

**Target:** VPNLab.net, bulletproof vpn service

**Activity:** Criminal hosting and proxies

**Operational lead:** BKA

**Partners**

Europol[[1]](#source-1)

- [European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/european-union-agency-for-law-enforcement-cooperation), coordinator

**Jurisdiction:** Not established

**Outcome:** Servers seized in a coordinated multi-country operation.

**Status:** Completed

**Legal mechanism:** Coordinated national judicial/search-and-seizure authority.

**Group accounted for:** Not established

## People and accountability

No individual is named against this entry in the cited record. That is a gap in what has been published rather than a finding that nobody was involved.

Group accounted for: Not established

The cited record does not say how large the group was or whether everyone involved has been identified.

[See the organizations and roles behind this action](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/vpnlab-net-takedown/organizations)

## What happened afterward

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

## Sources

Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them.

### Official sources

1.
[VPNLab.net shut down after Europol coordinated action](https://takedownindex.org/sources/europol-vpnlab-net-shut-down-after-europol-coordinated-action)

Europol, January 18, 2022, Source grade P2

Establishes the coordinated seizure of VPNLab.net infrastructure.

No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher.

Coverage note. Added from deep-research aggregation pass. Not independently re-verified source-by-source to the same standard as the original 38-incident core; source\_quality capped at S2/P2 pending a dedicated verification pass.

Research context

## How this entry was checked

This entry came from a broader aggregation pass and has not been independently verified source by source. Its sources are graded no higher than P2 or S2, and most carry no address yet. Treat the figures as a research lead rather than a settled record.

Source review: Extended pass, not yet verified

Sources cited: 1

Research cutoff: August 20, 2026

Last reviewed August 21, 2026

See also

[About the Internet Takedown Index](https://takedownindex.org/about)

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