The FBI was happy to share the news that they recently eliminated a ransomware virus and thus prevented the unauthorized theft of $130 million. According to the report of the US Federal Ministry of Justice, they have been tracking the network since last July. During this time, decryption keys were made available to the people involved before they paid the fraudsters.
The scam was attempted by the notorious hacker group Hive, however, the Federal Bureau of Investigation his colleagues were out of their minds. According to official information, more than 1,500 victims have been identified worldwide. The investigative agency revealed that they had infiltrated the ransomware gang’s network and had been monitoring the events for months. Last week, in cooperation with the German and Dutch authorities, Hive’s servers and websites were shut down.
The FBI broke up the criminal gang operating the ransomware from within
“Simply put, we hacked the hackers”said Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General of the United States, that press release related to the case within its framework.
By secretly infiltrating Hive’s servers, the FBI was able to obtain 300 decryption keys that were used to recover the victims’ encrypted data. Merrick Garland, the Attorney General of the United States, confirmed that various organizations and companies were exempted from serious financial burdens. For example, a school district in Texas would have had to pay a fee of $2 million, while a hospital in Louisiana would have incurred a debt of $3 million.
According to the FBI, Hive was one of the most threatening ransomware groups. Since June 2021, the criminal organization has stolen more than 100 million dollars.
“When a victim comes forward, it encourages other victims to seek the help of law enforcement”, can be read in the published information. A scan of Hive found nearly 1,000 decryption keys linked to previous victims of the hacking group. Unfortunately, only 20% of them contact the justice system for fear of unpleasant consequences. The FBI, on the other hand, advises everyone to contact them in confidence regarding any case.
In February 2022, we reported that the FBI had created a blockchain analysis and ransomware unit, and it seems their efforts have paid off.
