FBI’s Biggest Cybercrime Cases in 2023

In the fiscal year that ended September 30, FBI-led operations demolished 18 cybercrime cases and operations while disrupting another 285. Over $200 million in assets were seized or forfeited in operations that resulted in 202 arrests and 139 convictions. However, the data don’t fully capture the scope of the cyber takedowns, which occurred virtually every month over the last year and revealed numerous global victims. Some of the largest cybercrime cases were:

• Hive Network – Over 1,500 victims in over 80 countries, including hospitals, school districts, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure were targeted by the Hive ransomware group. The FBI infiltrated Hive’s computer networks, obtained its decryption keys, and distributed the keys to global victims, saving the victims from having to pay a $130 million ransom.
• Qakbot – The FBI detected over 700,000 infected global computers, including over 200,000 in the United States, and gained lawful access to Qakbot’s infrastructure in one of the biggest actions against a botnet (a network of compromised computers). According to the FBI Director, the FBI neutralized the far-reaching criminal supply chain, cutting it off at the knees.
• Genesis Market – The FBI disrupted the dark web marketplace, which provided access to data taken from over 1.5 million compromised global computers, including over 80 million account access credentials. Market users were found worldwide, and investigators worked to identify the frequent users, resulting in numerous leads being given to FBI field offices and international partners. The disruption, disclosed in April, involved 45 of the 56 FBI’s field offices.
• Snake Malware Market – Snake malware compromised a global peer-to-peer network of computers, which was neutralized by the FBI. A unit inside the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has utilized various Snake Malware for nearly 20 years to steal critical documents from hundreds of computer systems across 50 countries.

As the FBI continues to face ever-evolving cyber threats and cybercrime cases ranging from ransomware networks to increasingly elaborate cyberattacks, companies must remain vigilant in the current threat landscape and contact their local or federal authorities of any potential cyber threats. By leveraging SpearTip’s Advisory Services offerings, companies can learn how to protect their organization better and defend against even the most sophisticated cyber threats. From ransomware, wire fraud, business email compromise, insider threats, and APTs, the threats and attack vectors are exponentially increasing. SpearTip’s Advisory Services are focused on real and imminent threats. SpearTip’s fully managed Security Operations Center (SOC) is more than a place or single-pronged software. Our SOC is a 24/7/365 command center where our certified, experienced engineers and analysts, who are empowered and prepared to remediate any suspicious activity in real-time, keep watch over our client environments. While our security team is the SOC’s life force, our ShadowSpear Platform gives the team a decisive advantage over threat actors attempting to breach your environment. The ShadowSpear Platform is an integrable security solution with the combined capabilities of SIEM, AV, MDR, anti-phishing tools, and much more. Our SOC provides companies with a team of experienced professionals, 24/7/365 monitoring and threat remediation, and a proven cybersecurity tool dedicated to ensuring threat actors never establish a foothold in their environment. SpearTip is a trusted provider of breach coaches and carriers. Our team specializes in incident response capabilities and handling breaches with industry-standard response times.

If your company is experiencing a breach, call our Security Operations Center at 833.997.7327 to speak directly with an engineer.