US offers $10 million reward to find ransomware attack boss

The US government has announced a $10 million reward for information about those behind the Hive malware program - one of the world's leading malware attack networks, believed to target 1,500 entities in more than 80 countries.

Announcement of the US government's Hive network being taken down (Source: US Government)

In addition, the US State Department also announced a reward of $5 million for information leading to the arrest of any individual, regardless of nationality, who participates or intends to participate in this transnational ransomware attack network. The announcement also stated that the US Government will continue to work with allies and partners to prevent ransomware attacks that threaten important sectors of the national economy, as well as critical infrastructure.

Hive, one of the world's leading malware attack networks, is believed to have targeted 1,500 entities in more than 80 countries, including the United States, and illegally collected more than $100 million. Malware attacks typically target unsecured computer systems, and the main method is to encrypt or steal data and then send a ransom note to the victim, or decrypt the data and threaten them publicly.

The Hive network was taken down in January in a joint operation by the FBI, German police, Dutch police and Europol. Hive operates on a bespoke attack software model, where the author writes software to provide to hackers to carry out attacks, and then the two parties agree to split the ransom money earned from this operation.

LAM DIEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/my-treo-thuong-10-trieu-usd-truy-tim-trum-tan-cong-ma-doc-tong-tien-post726317.html