
Joint press release from the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office and the Reutlingen police headquarters:
As part of a broad, international cooperation with numerous security authorities, a global network of cybercriminals was dismantled on January 26, 2023. The US judiciary and the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office took the lead here, in collaboration with the Reutlingen police headquarters.
The websites of the group of perpetrators operating under the name “HIVE” on the Darknet, whose IT structure was used exclusively to commit the most serious cyber attacks and the subsequent blackmail of the affected companies/authorities or other institutions, were blocked and provided with a corresponding notice of the seizure ( see Appendix). A large number of servers were confiscated and data and accounts of the network and its users were secured.
As in December 2020, when a network of cybercriminals operating under the name “Safe-Inet” was dismantled as part of “Operation Nova” (see press release from December 22, 2020), the current “Operation Dawnbreaker” was lengthy and extensive This was preceded by investigations that had their origins in an investigation by the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office - the focus department for cybercrime - and the Reutlingen police headquarters.
As part of an investigation into a cyber attack to the detriment of a company based in the Esslingen district over the course of the past year, the cyber specialists from the Esslingen Criminal Investigation Department managed to penetrate the criminal IT infrastructure of the perpetrators and trace the trail to the previously unknown, globally active company to trace the “HIVE” network and give the international partners the decisive information.
In close cooperation with the US judiciary, the Secret Service, the FBI, Europol, the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden and the security authorities of other countries, the group has now been able to attribute over 1,500 serious cyber attacks worldwide to the detriment of companies - over 70 of them in the Federal Republic alone Germany, three of them in Baden-Württemberg. The investigation was only possible because the companies did not give in to the blackmail but instead filed a criminal complaint with the investigating authorities.
The Esslingen Criminal Police Directorate was responsible, among other things, for the central investigations for all cases registered in Germany and for a large number of undercover investigations at home and abroad.
It has once again been shown that intensive cooperation based on mutual trust across national borders and continents is the key to effectively combating serious cybercrime. We are grateful to be part of this extraordinary network with highly professional partners and to be able to make our contribution to such successes.
Police Chief Vogel after the successful operation on January 26th, 2023 in Reutlingen
Senior public prosecutor Dr. Joachim Dittrich emphasized that the damage caused by the planned group of perpetrators to the affected companies and public institutions is estimated to be in the billions and that the number of serious cyber crimes is increasing. “It is all the more important that the investigative authorities continue to network, act flexibly and keep the technology up to date. The Stuttgart public prosecutor's office and the Esslingen criminal police department have acquired a lot of technical and investigative expertise in the cyber area in recent years. “In this way, we are signaling to cybercriminals that there is a high risk of detection and prosecution,” said Dr. Dittrich.
The evaluation of the data seized as part of the dismantling of the network and the seizure of the servers and the international investigation into the suspects, those responsible for the group and users of the criminal network are continuing.

https://www.justice.gov
https://www.justice.gov/live
https://www.youtube.com/@TheJusticeDepartment
https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom
Inquiries to:
Press office of the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office: Aniello Ambrosio, Tel. 0711/921-4400
Press office of the Reutlingen police headquarters: Andrea Kopp, Tel. 07121/942-1101
Please send inquiries to:
Reutlingen Police Headquarters
Telephone: Monday - Friday/7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.: 07121/942-1111
outside these times: 07121/942-2224
Email: reutlingen.pp.pressestelle@polizei.bwl .de
http://www.polizei-bw.de
Source: presseportal.de
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