OAKLAND — A ransomware attack against Oakland that has affected city services and exposed reams of sensitive personnel data is creating a nightmare for city officials who aren’t sure wh…
OAKLAND — A ransomware attack against Oakland that has affected city services and exposed reams of sensitive personnel data is creating a nightmare for city officials who aren’t sure what it will take to resolve the crisis.
The attack was carried out by hackers associated with the ransomware group Play, also known as PlayCrypt, that has targeted municipalities around the globe, including the small city Cordoba in Argentina, as well as hotels in Brazil and other private businesses. Over the past weekend, the Play hackers released about 11 gigabytes of data from the Oakland attack to the dark web, including home addresses and social security numbers of numerous city employees — including the current mayor, and her predecessor — as well as police files and other city data, according to multiple city sources who reviewed the data.
Information stolen in previous ransomware attacks has been trafficked in countries like Russia and North Korea, where crackdowns on such information is less common. Oakland officials have offered few details of last month’s attack, but the city temporarily shut down its 311 call line that coordinates requests for city services; the internal system for contracting and funding external vendors; the permit center for local developments; and the systems that handle business tax and parking fee payments.
“Most typically, a tactic that these groups take is to release some of the information, to let the victims know that they’re serious about the ransom,” Aranki said. “If you release all the data you have, you lose leverage.”
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