A yearlong Europol-coordinated operation dubbed 'Project Compass' has led to 30 arrests and 179 suspects being tied to 'The Com,' an online cybercrime collective that targets children and teenagers.
A yearlong Europol-coordinated operation dubbed "Project Compass" has led to 30 arrests and 179 suspects being tied to "The Com," an online cybercrime collective that targets children and teenagers. In a press release issued on Thursday, Europol said that investigators identified 62 victims and directly safeguarded four of them from the group's attacks.
Launched in January 2025 and led by Europol's European Counter Terrorism Centre, the Project Compass joint action has brought together law enforcement agencies from 28 countries to combat The Com (short for Community). Described by Europol as a decentralized nihilistic extremist network, The Com is a loose-knit network of English-speaking cybercriminals known for targeting, victimizing, and recruiting young people for extortion, violence, and the production of child sexual exploitation material (CSAM).
The Com operates openly across social media, messaging apps, online gaming environments, and music streaming services, and it is organized into multiple subgroups with various goals, including:
- Offline Com, which promotes property damage, harming others, and committing acts of terrorism
- Cyber Com, which orchestrates network intrusions and ransomware attacks
- (S)extortion Com, which coerces minors into sex crimes and encourages self-harm and suicide
Another subgroup that first surfaced in 2021 and is known as "764" is especially notorious within The Com as it grooms young people into producing explicit content, which is then used for blackmail or shared among members. Two alleged 764 leaders (21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis and 20-year-old Prasan Nepal) were arrested in April 2025 and charged with operating an international child exploitation ring, and are now facing life in prison.
The Com has previously been linked to high-profile ransomware attacks against Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods in April 2025, as well as Las Vegas casino breaches in September 2023.
"These networks deliberately target children in the digital spaces where they feel most at ease," said Anna Sjöberg, the head of Europol's European Counter Terrorism Centre. "Project Compass allows us to intervene earlier, safeguard victims and disrupt those who exploit vulnerability for extremist purposes. No country can address this threat alone - and through this cooperation, we are closing the gaps they try to hide in."
The operation highlights the growing concern over online extremist networks that exploit young people through multiple digital platforms. The Com's decentralized structure and use of common communication channels makes it particularly challenging to combat, requiring the kind of international cooperation demonstrated in Project Compass.
Law enforcement officials emphasize that the group's ability to operate across borders and use mainstream platforms for recruitment and coordination necessitates continued vigilance and cross-jurisdictional collaboration. The arrests represent a significant blow to the network, but authorities warn that similar groups continue to pose threats to online safety, particularly for vulnerable young users.
Related Articles:
- Spain arrests 34 suspects linked to Black Axe cyber crime
- Campaign platform helps malicious Google ads evade detection
- Police arrests 651 suspects in African cybercrime crackdown
- Police arrests 300 suspects linked to African cybercrime rings
- Telegram channels expose rapid weaponization of SmarterMail flaws
Comments
Please log in or register to join the discussion