Alleged Hive ransomware operator arrested in France

On 5 December in Paris, a 40-year-old Russian national was arrested, reportedly the operator of Hive ransomware. Local media report.

According to the Cybercrime Unit, the suspect extorted cryptocurrency from victims of his cyberattacks.

The Russian lived in Cyprus; €570,000 in undisclosed cryptocurrencies were seized from his home, which ‘corresponds to working capital’.

In addition to using the malware themselves, Hive developers provided its open-source code to external cybercriminals, taking a share of the ransom.

Law enforcement traced the financial flows from victims to the extortionists and found hacker-linked wallets.

In France alone, Hive victims numbered about 60 companies. Two of the attackers’ organizers are now at large.

Earlier, FBI agents, together with authorities in Germany and the Netherlands, ликвидировали инфраструктуру Hive’s ransomware and gained control over all of the group’s Tor sites.

According to the agency’s estimates, hackers breached more than 1,500 companies in 80 countries and, through extortion, obtained from victims около $100 млн.