British Columbia RCMP team disinfects 24 machines in malware crackdown

A Vancouver-based RCMP cybercrime team disinfected 24 compromised machines in Canada as part of an international action against Gootloader malware, police said in a Nov. 13 release. Investigators took part in a global action week during the week of Nov. 9, 2026.

Approximately 672 infected websites were remediated globally during the action against Gootloader, according to the RCMP. Law enforcement agencies in Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States deployed a tool to remove the malware from infected machines.

The Vancouver cybercrime team and the RCMP’s Cyber and Technical Investigation Service developed the tool during the investigation. Police said it was shared with Operation Endgame partners to disrupt the malware around the world.

The Russia-based Gootloader malware enables unauthorized access to computer systems through compromised websites, the RCMP said. It used infected WordPress websites to spread malware disguised as legal documents.

Vancouver investigators were at Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, during the action week. Their team was the lead Canadian police agency and national representative in Operation Endgame, and contributed coders, analysts and investigators to the project.

Operation Endgame is an ongoing joint forces operation involving police from countries including Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Europol and Eurojust support the operation, according to the RCMP.