Hive Ransomware as a Service A website used by gangs to extort ransoms and exfiltrate stolen data from corporate victims has been seized in a joint operation involving police around the world.
Europol, the US Department of Justice, the FBI, the Secret Service, Europol, and law enforcement agencies, including Germany’s BKA and Polizei, are believed to have worked together to bring down the Hive gang. Extorted ransoms from over 1300 companies worldwidehas amassed an estimated $100 million in the last 18 months.
Hive was a particularly notorious ransomware group. The reason is that, unlike some of its rivals, it seemed to have no hesitation in targeting medical institutions.
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But today, when you step onto the dark web and visit Hive’s leaked website, you’ll see this…
This hidden site has been seized
The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized the site as part of a coordinated law enforcement action taken against the Hive ransomware.
The action was carried out with substantial support from Europol in collaboration with the Central District of Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Division.
Animated GIF magic turns the message into Russian every few seconds (presumably trying to send a powerful message to the ransomware gang).
U.S. Department of Justice Press release announced that the FBI had compromised Hive’s infrastructure in late July 2022, obtaining decryption keys and providing them to victims around the world without having to pay a ransom.
Overall, the FBI says it has provided over 300 decryption keys to Hive victims since July 2022. Additionally, he has provided over 1,000 decryption keys to her past Hive victims.
The FBI says it continues to investigate the operation of Hive ransomware-as-a-service. Whether this will ultimately lead to the identification and prosecution of those involved in the intimidation ring remains to be seen…
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