In January 2021, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) disclosed it was in the throes of a ransomware attack. In June 2021, SEPA revealed that it was building a new IT system from scratch and had not recovered all of its files. Now, Andrew Picken of BBC reports: Scotland’s environment watchdog has written off £2m…
Category: Government Sector
Ransomware group threatens to leak data from France’s justice ministry
Mathieu Pollet, translated by Daniel Eck, reports: Hackers from ransomware gang Lockbit 2.0 claimed to have hacked into the French justice ministry on Thursday (27 January). They said that if the ransom is not paid by 10 February, the stolen data will be published. EURACTIV France reports. A total of 9,859 files are ready to be disseminated on…
US DoD staffer with top-secret clearance stole identities from work systems to apply for loans
Chris Williams reports: A US Department of Defense staffer with top-secret clearance stole the identities of dozens of people from a work SharePoint system to apply for loans totaling nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Kevin Lee, 41, of Chula Vista, southern California, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to wire fraud. Lee, who worked for Uncle Sam’s…
Canada’s foreign affairs ministry hacked, some services down
Ax Sharma reports: The Canadian government department for foreign and consular relations, Global Affairs Canada was hit by a cyberattack last week. While critical services remain accessible, access to some online services is currently not available, as government systems continue to recover from the attack. Read more at BleepingComputer. Last night, the Treasury Board of Canada tweeted…
Crawford County, Arkansas still impacted by ransomware attack last month
KNWA reports: Crawford County is still dealing with a cyberattack that happened around Christmas. According to the assistant to the county judge, unknown ransomware hit the county’s servers on December 26. Some limited previous coverage on the breach can be found here.
Hacktivists Claim Ransomware Strike on Belarus Railway Intended to Disrupt Russian Forces
Hacktivism is not dead, although it hasn’t been in the news quite as much as financially driven ransomware incidents these past few years. Lucas Ropek reports: In an apparent bid to stop a Russian arms build-up near the Ukrainian border, a “pro-democracy” hacktivist group claims to have hacked the Belarusian railway system—allegedly one of the conduits for tanks and…