U.S. Department of Justice seizes Virtualine bulletproof hosting domain

The U.S. Department of Justice, in coordination with law enforcement agencies from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, has seized the domain for Virtualine, a bulletproof hosting service used to facilitate various criminal activities.

Virtualine allegedly provided technical assistance to platforms dedicated to trafficking child sexual abuse material, ignoring repeated notifications from agencies in the U.S., Germany, Canada, and Australia. The service reportedly offered specialized protection plans to help criminals migrate their infrastructure to shell companies upon receiving police alerts.

To evade detection, the provider utilized a payment method labeled “BTC [NO-AML],” which involved using unhosted Bitcoin addresses to bypass anti-money laundering controls. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, these funds were often laundered to conceal their origins. Investigations have linked Virtualine's addresses to ransomware operators, information-stealing malware infrastructure, and various cybercrime forums.