Hive Ransomware Network Dismantled by American, European Law Enforcement

Law enforcement authorities from implicit a twelve countries successful Europe and North America person taken portion successful disrupting the activities of the Hive ransomware group, the U.S. Justice Department and Europol announced. Hive is believed to person targeted assorted organizations worldwide successful the past mates of years, often extorting payments successful cryptocurrency.

Captured Decryption Keys Helped Hive Victims Avoid Paying $130 Million successful Ransom

Ransomware web Hive, which has had astir 1,500 victims successful much than 80 countries, has been deed successful a months-long disruption campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) revealed. A full of 13 nations participated successful the operation, including EU subordinate states, the U.K. and Canada.

Hive has been identified arsenic a large cybersecurity menace arsenic the ransomware has been utilized by affiliated actors to compromise and encrypt information and machine systems of authorities facilities, lipid multinationals, IT and telecom companies successful the EU and U.S., Europol said. Hospitals, schools, fiscal firms, and captious infrastructure person been targeted, the DOJ noted.

It has been 1 of the astir prolific ransomware strains, Chainalysis pointed out, which has collected astatine slightest $100 cardinal from victims since its motorboat successful 2021. A caller report by the blockchain forensics institution unveiled that gross from specified attacks has decreased past year, with a increasing fig of affected organizations refusing to wage the demanded ransoms.

According to the announcements by the instrumentality enforcement authorities, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) penetrated Hive’s computers successful July 2022 and captured its decryption keys, providing them to victims astir the satellite which prevented them from paying different $130 million.

Working with the German Federal Police and the Dutch High Tech Crime Unit, the Bureau has present seized power implicit the servers and websites that Hive utilized to pass with its members and the victims, including the darknet domain wherever the stolen information was sometimes posted. FBI Director Christopher Wray was quoted arsenic stating:

The coordinated disruption of Hive’s machine networks … shows what we tin execute by combining a relentless hunt for utile method accusation to stock with victims.

The Hive ransomware was created, maintained and updated by developers portion being employed by affiliates successful a ‘ransomware-as-a-service’ (RaaS) treble extortion model, Europol explained. The affiliates would initially transcript the information and past encrypt the files earlier asking for a ransom to decrypt the accusation and not people it connected the leak site.

The attackers exploited assorted vulnerabilities and utilized a fig of methods, including azygous origin logins via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), virtual backstage networks (VPNs), and different distant web transportation protocols arsenic good arsenic phishing emails with malicious attachments, the instrumentality enforcement agencies detailed.

Do you expect constabulary authorities astir the satellite to dismantle much ransomware networks successful the adjacent future? Tell america successful the comments conception below.

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