US Justice Department seizes website of prolific ransomware gang Hive
According to United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray on Jan. 26, worldwide legislation enforcement teams have dismantled the notorious Hive cryptocurrency ransomware gang. He claimed that the operation has recovered over 1,300 decryption keys for victims since July 2022 and prevented $130 million in ransomware funds. Officers raised the instance of 1 incident the place a Hive ransomware assault on a Louisiana hospital was thwarted by legislation enforcement, saving the sufferer from a $3-million ransom fee.
Ghost servers have been reportedly seized Wednesday night time in a global legislation enforcement effort between U.S. authorities, the German Reutlingen Police Headquarters, the German Federal Felony Police, the Netherlands Nationwide Excessive Tech Crime Unit and Europol to trace ransom funds, seize them again to victims, and dismantle the community’s infrastructure.
The group had been infiltrated by undercover brokers since July 2022. As informed by Wray, legislation enforcement gained “clandestine, persistent” entry to Hive’s management panels since that point and had been secretly serving to victims get better their belongings and locked gadgets unbeknownst to Hive.
Hive was behind a collection of infamous ransomware incidents, such because the April-to-Could 2022 Costa Rica public well being service and social safety fund cyberattack. The group locked key digital infrastructure and demanded $5 million in Bitcoin (BTC) ransom funds for the restoration of companies. Over 4,800 people reportedly missed their medical appointments within the first few days following the assault. Regardless of the profitable enforcement motion, Wray additionally warned:
“Sadly, throughout these previous seven months, we discovered that solely about 20% of Hive’s victims reported potential points to legislation enforcement. Right here, happily, we have been nonetheless in a position to determine and assist many victims who didn’t report in. However that’s not at all times the case. When victims report assaults to us, we will help them — and others, too.”
