> So why are ransomware hackers never prosecuted?

Because they're typically based in Russia, and Russia has a policy that it will not prosecute its citizens for computer crimes unless they perpetrated them against Russians or Russian organizations. My understanding is most ransomware has code to detect Russian computers (e.g. by checking localization settings), and will refuse to run if it finds itself on one for that reason.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/try-this-one-weird-trick...