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Will the group's accomplices give up under the onslaught of the alluring crunch of bills?
Yesterday, the US State Department officially announced a reward of $10 million for information about members of the Hive extortion gang and $5 million for information about accomplices in their crimes.
The Hive cybercrime network itself was eliminated by the FBI at the end of January last year. For almost two years of their activity, hackers managed to earn over $100 million, and the number of victims of their attacks exceeded one and a half thousand.
In late January, the US State Department announced for the first time that it would pay up to $ 10 million for information that would lead to the identification and/or location of individuals who hold or have held "key" leadership positions in this organized criminal group.
The FBI later announced an additional $ 5 million reward for information that could lead to the arrest of anyone "who agreed to participate or attempted to participate in activities related to the Hive ransomware."
As a result of the elimination of the Hive network, the FBI was able to provide decryption keys to more than 1,300 current and past victims of criminals around the world, saving them from having to pay ransoms totaling about $ 130 million and "paralyzing the ability of Hive to cause damage."
This FBI estimate "may not reflect the whole picture" because it only takes into account ransomware that was directly prevented by the decryption keys. Chainalysis suggests that the liquidation of Hive most likely prevented payments of at least $ 210 million.
Despite these and other high-profile successes in the fight against cybercrime, online scammers continue to make huge profits from their attacks, dozens of new groups appear every year.
Chainalysis estimates that cybercrime gangs received more than $ 1 billion in cryptocurrency from their victims in 2023, up from $ 567 million a year earlier.
A substantial reward for information about Hive cybercriminals demonstrates the determination of the US authorities to bring hackers to justice and finally eliminate the threat. It is this kind of information that ultimately allows the FBI to successfully eliminate large criminal networks and make cyberspace more secure.
Yesterday, the US State Department officially announced a reward of $10 million for information about members of the Hive extortion gang and $5 million for information about accomplices in their crimes.
The Hive cybercrime network itself was eliminated by the FBI at the end of January last year. For almost two years of their activity, hackers managed to earn over $100 million, and the number of victims of their attacks exceeded one and a half thousand.
In late January, the US State Department announced for the first time that it would pay up to $ 10 million for information that would lead to the identification and/or location of individuals who hold or have held "key" leadership positions in this organized criminal group.
The FBI later announced an additional $ 5 million reward for information that could lead to the arrest of anyone "who agreed to participate or attempted to participate in activities related to the Hive ransomware."
As a result of the elimination of the Hive network, the FBI was able to provide decryption keys to more than 1,300 current and past victims of criminals around the world, saving them from having to pay ransoms totaling about $ 130 million and "paralyzing the ability of Hive to cause damage."
This FBI estimate "may not reflect the whole picture" because it only takes into account ransomware that was directly prevented by the decryption keys. Chainalysis suggests that the liquidation of Hive most likely prevented payments of at least $ 210 million.
Despite these and other high-profile successes in the fight against cybercrime, online scammers continue to make huge profits from their attacks, dozens of new groups appear every year.
Chainalysis estimates that cybercrime gangs received more than $ 1 billion in cryptocurrency from their victims in 2023, up from $ 567 million a year earlier.
A substantial reward for information about Hive cybercriminals demonstrates the determination of the US authorities to bring hackers to justice and finally eliminate the threat. It is this kind of information that ultimately allows the FBI to successfully eliminate large criminal networks and make cyberspace more secure.
