The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Thursday (26), distributed Hive ransomware operations network. The group is responsible for cyberattacks targeting companies in the financial sector, government facilities, educational institutions and hospitals in more than 80 countries.
The operation against the operators of malicious campaigns began seven months ago. In July of last year, experts from the agency infiltrated Hive’s networks and quietly began collecting the decryption keys needed to unlock access to Hive files.
These keys were made available to more than 1,300 victims of cybercriminals, preventing them from paying the group’s total of $130 million in ransom; The next step was to take control of the network.
The decisive action, which resulted in the shutdown of the servers and websites the ransomware group used to communicate with its members, was taken in partnership with authorities in Germany and the Netherlands. Now, Prevent cybercriminals from using Hive to attack and blackmailAccording to the FBI.
More than $100 million in cashback
According to the US Department of Justice, the Hive ransomware group, which has been in operation since June 2021, has received more than $100 million (R$506 million) in ransom paid by the victims. The healthcare industry was one of the most harassed by cybercriminals.
Among the targets that were forced to pay was an American hospital that was unable to accept new patients in August 2021 due to an increase in covid-19 cases. While the system was offline, professionals turned to paper to store data of detainees.
No arrests have been made so far in the operation that resulted in the deactivation of the network, but the investigation into the group continues.
Source: Tec Mundo
