One of the “most significant cybercriminal groups in the world” was taken down this Thursday in a multi-country operation over the course of several months, the Judicial Police (PJ) said in a statement.
The group responsible for the HIVE ransomware is suspected of attacks on Portuguese organizations such as hospitals, laboratory analysis companies, municipalities, transport/airline companies, hotels and technology companies.
The involvement of the SP was responsible for the National Cybercrime and Technology Crime Unit (UNC3T), which reinforced the importance of “timely reporting” of these incidents to the success of the investigation. Among the countries that took part in the operation were Germany, Spain, the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom.
According to the joint venture, the group resorted to a “double extortion” method, as they not only exfiltrated the victim’s data, but also encrypted the information, demanding money for decryption and for not publishing it on the Internet.
“Cooperation between various international partners has made it possible to identify the technological infrastructure used by members of this criminal group, as well as the private keys they use to encrypt victims’ data. As a result of today’s operation, the criminal group was deprived of the means to carry out cyber attacks, ”the note says, which notes its operational and economic impact.
PJ estimates that the operation saved about 120 million euros in the ransom demanded by the HIVE group, and refers to the fact that “some of the victims who received assistance from the authorities lived in Portugal.”
Author: morning Post and Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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