The reward is focused on identifying and locating the operators of the Hive ransomware group that have shaken down hospitals, schools and other critical industries for $100 million. U.S. authorities dismantled Hive’s operations starting in 2022, providing victims with its data decryption keys and saving an estimated $130 million savings in ransom payments, but the hackers themselves evaded capture.
On Feb. 8, the treasury department also declared a reward of up to $5 million for info leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone in the world who conspired or tried to participate in Hive ransomware activity.
The group attacked a Midwestern hospital during the height of the pandemic in 2021, causing it to stop accepting new patients, and reportedly tried to blackmail a Louisiana hospital out of $3 million and a Georgia hospital out of $1.5 million in 2022.
The U.S. has been coming down hard on cybercriminal groups, recently sentencing a Russian malware developer to five years in prison after the scheme he aided reportedly extorted $100 million from hospitals. But it’s been a bit of hacker whack-a-mole, as cyberattacks on health systems, most recently a Chicago children’s hospital, continue.
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