The united states has put up a $10 million reward for intelligence on the identities and whereabouts of the Hive ransomware criminals – see my previous blog about the Hive take-down. The reward is part of the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program
In a tweet on Thursday (26th), the agency sought tips for Hive members “acting under the direction or control of a foreign government.” The foreign government in question being Russa. The notice also referenced the FBI’s Hive website take-down, which was announced earlier in the day.
In a tit-for-tat move, Russia has blocked the FBI and CIA websites, along with the Rewards for Justice site offering the bounty. On Friday (27th) , Moscow’s communications and IT regulator Roskomnadzor said it blocked US government websites and accused them of spreading lies about the Russian government and military.
In a statement provided to Russian media outlets, Roskomnadzor said it
“On the basis of Federal Law No. 149-FZ “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection,” Roskomnadzor restricted access to a number of resources belonging to state structures of hostile countries for distributing materials aimed at destabilizing the social and political situation in the Russian Federation,” the statement said. agency in response to an agency request.
“These resources revealed materials containing unreliable socially significant information, as well as discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation,”
It certainly looks like the take down of Hive has stirred up a bit of a hornets nest with Russia.