US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday the dismantling of an international ransomware network responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in attempted extortion in the United States and around the world.
The minister stated that the international criminal network of ransomware is called "Hive" - or "beehive" in English - and has targeted more than 1,500 victims around the world, and that ongoing investigative efforts have led to the discovery of two computer servers that it uses in Los Angeles to store information.
He stressed that cybercrime represents a constantly evolving threat and that it will spare no resources to identify those behind it and bring them to justice.
Christopher Ray, director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), stated that the discovered network affected thousands of victims in the United States and around the world until the agency disabled it.
He added - during a press conference with the Minister of Justice - that all forms of network infrastructure in the United States and abroad have been dismantled, indicating that investigations in this context are still ongoing and that anyone related to the ransomware network should be concerned, as he put it.
He added that the FBI cooperated with the security services of several European countries until it was able to dismantle the relevant network.