BlackByte group has claimed duty for a ransomware assault on the town of Augusta in Georgia.
The ransomware group has posted 10GB of pattern information at no cost and claimed they’ve much more information accessible.
“We’ve got plenty of delicate information. Many individuals wish to see that in addition to the media. You got time to attach us but it surely looks as if you might be sleepy,” the screenshot shared by safety researcher Brett Callow, who can be a risk analyst at Emsisoft.
“We’ll assist you to get up. Here’s a leak of 10GB of your information and really quickly there shall be far more free to everybody. The clock is ticking,” the ransomware group stated.
In one other post on a hacker discussion board, the group claimed that it has further information that they wish to promote.
Augusta is a metropolis in Georgia, close to the South Carolina border with a inhabitants of over 200,000 as of 2021. Town of Augusta has acknowledged that it started experiencing technical difficulties on Might 21 and that it resulted as a consequence of unauthorized entry to its system.
Leaked information consists of PII
When the pattern 10GB information was analyzed, it was discovered that it contained payroll data, contact particulars, personally identifiable data (PII), bodily addresses, contacts, metropolis finances allocation information, and many others, in accordance with BleepingComputer. The origin and authenticity of the leaked information couldn’t be verified.
BlackByte is a Russia-based ransomware-as-a-service gang that started focusing on company victims worldwide in July 2021. The group is thought to leverage double extortion to power their victims into cost. The FBI and the US Secret Service have earlier launched a joint advisory cautioning in opposition to BlackByte.
The demanded ransom for deleting the stolen data is $400,000. BlackByte ransomware gang has additionally supplied to resell the info to third events for $300,000, in accordance with BleepingComputer report.
Investigation underway by metropolis administration
Augusta metropolis’s mayor has refuted the claims in regards to the ransom demand. “Current media studies concerning Augusta, Georgia being held hostage for $50 million in a ransomware assault are incorrect,” the workplace of the Mayor stated in an announcement on Might 25.
Augusta’s Data Expertise Division is investigating the incident, to substantiate its influence on the methods, and to revive full performance as quickly as attainable. “We proceed to analyze what, if any, delicate information might have been impacted or accessed,” the assertion stated.
“Right now, we’ve not confirmed that any delicate information was compromised, however we are going to replace you as extra data turns into accessible,” the town stated in an announcement launched on Might 24.
A request for remark to the mayor’s workplace didn’t elicit a response on the time of writing.
A number of cities are going through cyberattacks
A number of cities have fallen prey to ransomware assaults this yr. The Metropolis of Oakland, California, introduced on February 10 that it had been hit by a ransomware assault that knocked a lot of its methods offline.
4 days later, Oakland declared a state of emergency because it grappled with the wide-ranging influence of the incident, which left metropolis cellphone methods and a number of non-emergency companies inoperable, together with its 311 cellphone system.
Russia-backed Play ransomware group, which safety researchers have linked to the Hive gang, took duty for the assault and commenced releasing information stolen in the course of the incident. In recent times native governments of Baltimore, New Orleans, Pensacola, Atlanta, and New Orleans have additionally suffered cybersecurity incidents.
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