Dhe joy was huge on Thursday in Esslingen. Investigators from Criminal Investigation 5, in charge of cyber crimes, had gathered with FBI investigators and US prosecutors and together watched the press conference that finally made public what they had been working on for months. And then the FBI director Christopher Wray praised the “fine work” of the “police unit in Ruutlingen” in front of the assembled world public. The fact that he had trouble pronouncing the diphthong was forgiven at the Reutlingen police headquarters, to which Criminal Inspectorate 5 belongs. The police spokeswoman called the success of the investigation “incomparable” when she described the scene on the phone.
On Thursday night, the international team of investigators succeeded in striking the Hive hacker gang, servers in Los Angeles were confiscated, said none other than US Attorney General Merrick Garland. On the gang’s website, a note appeared in English and Russian that the website had been confiscated.
Below that are large logos of the authorities involved: alongside those of the usual suspects such as the FBI, Secret Service, the US Department of Justice, Europol and BKA, the logo of the Reutlingen Police Headquarters was given a prominent place, directly below the FBI. The US authorities and the public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart, together with the police headquarters in Reutlingen, were in charge, according to Swabia.
Udo Vogel (left), President of the Reutlingen Police Headquarters, and Joachim Dittrich, Chief Public Prosecutor of the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office.
:
Image: dpa
According to the police headquarters, the investigations originated in the town of Esslingen near Stuttgart. After an attack on a company in the district, the cyber police took up the pursuit over the course of the past year and penetrated “the criminal IT infrastructure of the perpetrators”. The trail led them to a “until then unknown, globally active network”, the Hive gang.
In this way, the international partners could be given “the decisive hint”. In the cyber unit in Esslingen “work 27, 28 people,” says the spokeswoman, including investigators, IT forensic scientists, data analysts and investigative assistants. Seven investigators were involved in the Hive investigation. They have worked closely with the FBI in recent months and have been to the United States for meetings from time to time to advance the investigation.
New attacks expected
The spokeswoman denied speculation that the company affected was the auto supplier Eberspächer, which was attacked by hackers a good year ago. A spokeswoman for Eberspächer did not want to comment on the current case, but praised the “great work” of the Esslingen investigators: “The cooperation with the police during our case was excellent.”
It was initially unclear whether, in addition to the confiscated servers and websites, people were also arrested. “Investigations into the suspects are ongoing,” said the police spokeswoman. “We’ll see when and how we get there.” Experts assume that the hackers will now regroup and strike again in a few weeks or months.