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FBI smokes ransomware Hive after secretly buzzing around gang’s network for months

January 26, 2023 – Published on The Register

The FBI said it has shut down the Hive’s ransomware network, seizing control of the notorious gang’s servers and websites, and thwarting the pesky criminals’ ability to sting future victims.

The takedown, which happened Wednesday night, was the culmination of a seven-month covert operation during which the FBI hacked Hive’s network and used that access to provide decryption keys to more than 300 victims, saving them $130 million in ransomware payments, we’re told.

Uncle Sam also distributed another 1,000 decryption keys to previous Hive victims, according to the US Department of Justice.

And then finally, working with German and Dutch law enforcement, the Feds dismantled the crime group’s infrastructure, “crippling Hive’s ability to sting again,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a Thursday press conference.

And the law enforcement action against Hive follows a year in which ransomware gangs remained relatively consistent — GuidePoint Security, in its report published today, said each quarter in 2022 saw at least 569 victims.

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