This needs wider dissemination, I think. As seen on The Conversation:
In recent weeks, Johannesburg’s computer network was held for ransom by a hacker group called Shadow Kill Hackers. This was the second time in three months a ransomware attack has hit South Africa’s largest city. This time, however, hackers didn’t pose the usual threat.
Rather than denying the city access to its data, the standard blackmail in a ransomware attack, they threatened to publish it online. This style of attack, known as leakware, allows hackers to target more victims in a single attack – in this case the city’s citizens.
Read more on The Conversation.
Tragic to see a whole city hacked and some of its operations halted. Kind of funny ransom note though. Chuckled at “We have control of everything in your city!” Like something straight out of the 1990s movie “Hackers.”
I wonder if these threats are any effective.
In many countries, much of the data held by city councils and the state is already public upon request by default.
Though, it could indeed pose a problem if an adversary gets hold of lots of it in bulk format.