US authorities have published a report on the activities of the Hive ransomware group. In France, the Altice group and the Damart brand have been affected by this collective.
Ransomware makes the fortune of hackers. The FBI, the American federal police, declared on November 17 that the notorious hacker gang Hive has managed to extort more than 100 million dollars – around 97 million euros – from more than a thousand companies since June 2021 . ” In November 2022, Hive members attacked over 1,300 companies worldwide. This collective is known to re-infect victim organizations that have restored their network without making ransom payments “indicates the police. Hive ransomware encrypts data and steals victim files. The ransoms demanded regularly exceed one million dollars.
The list of victims includes a wide range of companies from many sectors to government departments as well as hospitals. In France, the group attacked the textile brand Damart as well as the Altice group, parent company of SFR as well as many media – BFM, RMC. Many confidential documents on the operations of the telecommunications group had leaked.
Hackers linked to Conti
The origin of the attackers is difficult to determine, but some clues suggest that they would be from Russia. First, several files posted online had been named in Russian. Then, attack methods would have been provided by Conti, another Russian-speaking group now dissolved, reveals the American media Bleeping computer.
Although US federal agencies do not encourage ransom payments, they encourage victims to report attacks. The goal is to understand the modus operandi of hackers. The companies attacked have submitted more than 850 samples since the start of the year, with many of them hit during a huge spike in activity between late March and mid-April. In France, the authorities also recommend not to pay the sums demanded by the criminals. Nevertheless, a law authorizing the reimbursement of ransoms by insurance companies – on the condition of filing a complaint – is likely to push many companies to give in to the demands.
