Ukrainian law enforcement officers, together with colleagues from France and the United States, exposed a group of hackers in Kyiv who carried out massive interference in the work of servers of European and American companies and demanded money for stolen information (part 2 of Article 189, part 2 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday, starting in September 2020, the attackers, using malicious software, in particular, the ransomware "Egregor Ransomware" designed to steal personal data, passwords, logins and payment data, carried out massive interventions in the work of servers of companies in the U.S. and European countries, during which confidential data was stolen.

For their non-disclosure, as well as for decrypting the affected computer networks, the hackers demanded significant sums of money.

"According to preliminary data, about 150 foreign companies were affected by the virus program. Losses from the group's activities reach $80 million," the press service said.

As part of the pretrial investigation, searches were carried out on the territory of Kyiv, during which computer and server equipment was discovered and seized, with the help of which the hackers carried out illegal activities.

The group members, including the organizer, have now been notified of the suspicion. Investigative actions continue.