DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

Columbus’ head of tech claims ransomware group ignored city before data leak; Rhysida says they’re lying (1)

Posted on September 10, 2024September 13, 2024 by Dissent

 Mark Feuerborn and Isabel Cleary report:

 Columbus’ massive data leak has been described as a ransomware attack, but the city’s head of technology revealed something new Monday night about the incident: not only was there no ransom, attempts to negotiate with the hackers behind it went unanswered.

The Columbus City Council was on break through August, as the early investigation into an attempted ransomware attack on government servers played out. At the council’s reconvening on Monday, Columbus Department of Technology Director Sam Orth avoided interviews with reporters, but did answer questions from council members.

Orth told them that the city never received a ransom demand from Rhysida, the hacking group that tried to auction off an advertised 6.5 terabytes of stolen data from Columbus servers. He said his team tried to reach out to the hacking group before the data was released, but never got a response. Rhysida’s auction — which sought around $2 million in bitcoin for a starting bid — ultimately failed, and the group instead publicly leaked 3.1 terabytes of data on the dark web.

Read more at NBC.

Did Rhysida really not make any ransom demand? Did they really not respond to an attempt to negotiate? It sounds somewhat unbelievable for financially motivated criminals to fail to try to negotiate with the victim. DataBreaches was unable to connect to Rhysida’s dark web site today to try to submit an inquiry to them, but will update this post if more information is received.

Update of September 13: In response to DataBreaches’ inquiry, Rhysida’s spokesperson states that yes, they had contacted the city, telling the city that they had 6 TB of data and providing a file list to show what they had acquired. The email also reportedly included a price quote. When asked if they could provide this site with a copy of the email, Rhysida’s spokesperson said that they couldn’t because the email account that had sent that email to the city had been deleted by now.

The spokesperson also said they never received any email from Columbus, telling DataBreaches:

they’re lying.

we sent them an e-mail (not one) but we haven’t gotten an answer.

Then they started making lying comments to the media.

No one has attempted to contact us since the auction was posted.

You realize we wanted to settle this peacefully.

And now these clowns are trying to justify themselves by blaming the person who made it public.

 

Category: Government SectorMalwareU.S.

Post navigation

← Malta’s Prime Minister Announces Legal Reform To Safeguard Ethical Hacking
Attleboro crisis pregnancy center stole data, tricked patients, lawsuit alleges →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Star Health hacker claims sending bullets, threats to top executives: Reports
  • Nova Scotia Power hit by cyberattack, critical infrastructure targeted, no outages reported
  • Georgia hospital defeats data-tracking lawsuit
  • 60K BTC Wallets Tied to LockBit Ransomware Gang Leaked
  • UK: Legal Aid Agency hit by cyber security incident
  • Public notice for individuals affected by an information security breach in the Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division of Helsinki
  • PowerSchool paid a hacker’s extortion demand, but now school district clients are being extorted anyway (3)
  • Defending Against UNC3944: Cybercrime Hardening Guidance from the Frontlines
  • Call for Public Input: Essential Cybersecurity Protections for K-12 Schools (2025-26 SY)
  • Cyberattack puts healthcare on hold for hundreds in St. Louis metro

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Apple Siri Eavesdropping Payout Deadline Confirmed—How To Make A Claim
  • Privacy matters to Canadians – Privacy Commissioner of Canada marks Privacy Awareness Week with release of latest survey results
  • Missouri Clinic Must Give State AG Minor Trans Care Information
  • Georgia hospital defeats data-tracking lawsuit
  • No Postal Service Data Sharing to Deport Immigrants
  • DOGE aims to pool federal data, putting personal information at risk
  • Privacy concerns swirl around HHS plan to build Medicare, Medicaid database on autism

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.