Suspected hacker group arrested in Ukraine
With the help of investigators from Baden-Württemberg, members of an international network of cyber criminals and extortionists have been arrested in Ukraine. A 32-year-old and four suspected accomplices are in custody because they are allegedly responsible for several hundred cyberattacks and extortions worldwide associated with the Hive network, as the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office and the Reutlingen police headquarters announced on Tuesday. They are also alleged to have committed serious cyber attacks in the Friedrichshafen area and in the district of Esslingen.
According to the investigators, a high six-figure sum in cryptocurrency was seized from one of the suspects. "Initial analyses confirmed that part of this sum came from ransom payments from attacked companies to the Hive group." The men were arrested during searches of several properties on November 21.
Investigators from the USA, Germany and other countries broke up the network in January of this year. The hacker group Hive is said to have blackmailed companies and organizations on a large scale. According to information from January, more than 1,500 serious cyber attacks were carried out by several hacker groups. The damage caused was estimated at the time to be in the billions.
"With the help of the data and accounts of the Hive network and its users secured in "Operation Dawnbreaker", numerous security authorities from Europe and the USA conducted intensive investigations to identify the perpetrators operating on the darknet," the investigators in Baden-Württemberg continued. The investigations have not been completed following the arrests in Ukraine.
Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) praised the work of the authorities. "The dismantling of the Hive network in January was not the end of the investigation, but the start of the hunt for the cyber criminals behind Hive," he explained.
The cyberattacks and extortions linked to the Hive network were reportedly funded in part by ransom payments made to the group via cryptocurrency. The arrest of the suspected hackers in Ukraine underscores the need for international cooperation in combating cybercrime, which can now often be facilitated through the internet.
Source: www.dpa.com
