Status: 01/26/2023 5:34 p.m
According to the authorities in Germany and the USA, they have smashed the global hacker network “Hive”. It was apparently responsible for over 1500 major cyber attacks on companies worldwide.
The public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart, together with US judicial authorities, has broken up an international network of cybercriminals called “Hive”. “A large number of servers were confiscated, data and accounts of the network and its users were secured,” said the public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart and the police headquarters in Reutlingen.
The hackers have attacked more than 1,500 companies worldwide since June 2021, including 70 in Germany, the authorities said. Three of them were in Baden-Württemberg. The Criminal Investigation Directorate in Esslingen had tracked down the network during investigations into a company affected there.
Europol: Critical infrastructure in the health and IT sector
“Once again it has been shown that intensive cooperation based on mutual trust across national borders and continents is the key to effectively combating serious cybercrime. We are grateful to be part of this extraordinary network with highly professional partners and our contribution to such to be able to achieve success,” said Udo Vogel, police chief of Reutlingen.
As reported by the EU police authority Europol, the hackers also attacked critical infrastructure in the health and IT sectors, including hospitals, telephone providers and factories.
$130 million ransom
Earlier it became known that the FBI had blocked the site of the hackers “Hive Ransomware” on Thursday. Ransomware is malware that locks the computer or encrypts data in order to blackmail users. “Hive” is one of many cybercriminal groups that blackmail international companies by encrypting their data in exchange for massive cryptocurrency payments. According to the US authorities, the hackers were able to loot around $130 million in ransoms.