Less than a month ago, the City of Columbus faced a cybersecurity breach. On July 29, the city issued a statement revealing that a foreign cyber threat actor had attempted to compromise its IT infrastructure, likely aiming to deploy ransomware and extort a ransom payment.
Ransomware incidents are on the rise, and the group behind the Columbus attack claims to be Rhysida, an overseas entity.
This week, an international ransomware group has threatened to auction off thousands of files they allege were stolen from the City of Columbus.
Trent Milliron, CEO of Kloud9 IT, noted that cybersecurity attacks are currently the fastest-growing crimes.
“City governments are prime targets because they often lack the necessary resources or have not sufficiently invested in cyber crime prevention,” said Milliron.
Milliron suspects the hackers are Russian, citing the lack of repercussions for their actions.
“These groups often operate from Russia, Ukraine, China, or North Korea,” Milliron added.
The group, identifying as Rhysida, claims to have exfiltrated 6 terabytes of data and is threatening to sell it on the dark web for 30 bitcoin, approximately $2 million, if the ransom isn’t paid.
They allege to possess passwords, internal logins, and servers for emergency applications.
“I’m sure there’s a wealth of personally identifiable information, including social security numbers, bank account details, especially related to payroll,” Milliron stated.
The City of Columbus has declared the incident an ongoing investigation, working with cybersecurity experts, the FBI, and Homeland Security.
The city is also offering Experian credit monitoring for all city employees receiving paychecks as of August 1. This service includes credit monitoring, identity theft restoration and insurance, as well as dark web monitoring for two years. Employees will receive instructions on how to enroll in these services, retroactive to July 18.
However, Milliron warned that such attacks are likely to continue.
“Without significant penalties, regulations are almost inevitable,” said Milliron.
