“Last night, the Department of Justice dismantled an international ransomware ring responsible for extorting and attempting to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world,” Garland said at a news conference in Washington.
The operation was carried out in coordination with the police forces of Germany and the Netherlands, as well as with Europol, explained the director of the US federal police (FBI), Christopher Wray.
How did Hive act?
After infiltrating a computer system, ransomware hackers encrypt companies’ data and demand payment to unlock it.
First detected in June 2021, Hive is accused of collecting more than $100 million in ransom. If the victims refused to pay, hive threatened to post confidential internal files and documents on the internet.
Gas companies to hospitals, the victims of Hive
According to specialized cybersecurity firms, among the victims of hive They included Costa Rica’s public health service, India’s Tata Power, German retail giant Media Markt, Indonesia’s state-owned gas company and several US hospital groups.
On Thursday, the site of hive on the “darkweb” it was frozen and a screen that alternated in English and Russian said it had been taken by the FBI.
