U.S. says it 'hacked the hackers' to bring down ransomware gang, helping 300 victims

The J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation Building is seen in Washington, U.S., February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI on Thursday revealed it had secretly hacked and disrupted a prolific ransomware gang called Hive, a maneuver that allowed the bureau to thwart the group from collecting more than $130 million in ransomware demands from more than 300 victims.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco said government hackers broke into Hive's network and put the gang under surveillance, surreptitiously stealing the digital keys the group used to unlock victim organizations' data.