Page 68 - Cyber Defense eMagazine October 2023

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model allows the group to concentrate on just one stage of the cyber-attack chain rather than trying to
manage every step, selling access and tools to other groups who want to take advantage of it. This model
made it easier for researchers to obtain malicious code to understand how it works. But it sometimes
makes it harder for them to identify which group has conducted which crime because multiple groups use
Hive’s code.

In just a few years, Hive has undoubtedly become one of the most dangerous cybercrime gangs on the
planet. One cyber security firm ranked it the second most successful in 2022 after LockBit. Known for its
aggressiveness and frequent attacks, its members work hard to evolve their tactics, techniques and
procedures (TTPs) to keep security experts from blocking its objectives.

Naturally, few crime groups declare how much money they make, and most organizations that have
suffered from ransomware attacks don’t like to state how much they have paid out. The FBI believes the
Hive has already targeted more than 1,300 companies around the globe, helping it to bring in
approximately US$100 million in ransom payments to date.

Conclusion

Magnetic tape was first used for data storage in 1951, and the first gigabyte capacity hard disk drive was
introduced in 1980. Along the transition from tape to digital storage, criminals began to trade in their
pistols for programmers as a less physical method for stealing money. In 1988, a 23-year-old Cornell
University graduate student named Robert Tappan Morris unleashed the first documented denial of
service hack dubbed the “Morris Worm.” According to FBI.gov, “At around 8:30 p.m. on November 2,
1988, a maliciously clever program was unleashed on the Internet from a computer at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT).” Before the invention of the World Wide Web, the Morris Worm targeted
connected computers across the U.S., including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, NASA,
and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The business of stealing your business has leaped from the pages of fiction to the frightening reality of
every corporation and educational institution worldwide. Routine cyber security protection is no match for
today’s well-organized and funded bad actors. These shadow organizations will continue to exploit the
code and even patches used in every part of the business.

Hacker organizations are growing too quickly and too smart, outpacing many IT staff in knowledge,
technique, and passion. Companies need to augment their in-house cybersecurity skills with expert
Virtual CISOs, cloud security services, and incident response preparedness. Third-party cybersecurity
experts have unique insights into the latest hacking techniques and are prepared to identify and respond
accordingly. Invest in expert cybersecurity help—because hacking organizations are outpacing your
budget, knowledge, and desire.

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