A global law enforcement operation co-ordinated by Europol dubbed ‘Project Compass’ has taken action against ‘The Com’, a notorious online collective responsible for high-profile cyber-attacks and various forms of extortion and exploitation. The group, made up of a disparate network of mostly teenage boys and young men, has been linked to several ransomware campaigns, including attacks against Marks & Spencer, The Co‑op and Harrods in 2025, and a series of assaults on Las Vegas casinos in 2023.
Common tactics deployed in cyber-attacks by The Com include phishing, vishing and SIM swapping, with the aim of breaching networks via account takeovers. Over time The Com has become increasingly linked to violent and extremist groups and harmful networks, including Russian cyber-criminal gangs.
According to Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre, January 2025 saw the launch of Project Compass, which has resulted in the arrest of 30 perpetrators and the full or partial identification of 179 perpetrators in the last 12 months.