Operation Saffron: Authorities Smash ‘First VPN’ Cybercrime Network

International law enforcement (France, the Netherlands, Europol, Eurojust) executed Operation Saffron to dismantle the ‘First VPN’ anonymity service used widely by ransomware operators and other cybercriminals: 33 servers were taken down across multiple countries, three web domains and Tor sites were seized, and the complete user database was captured, producing 83 intelligence packages tied to 506 users and advancing 21 major cybercrime investigations.