News and Updates on Information Technology

United States – Cooke County, Texas

Exploit: Ransomware
Cooke County, TX: Municipal Government 

Risk to Small Business: 1.972 = Severe

Attackers claimed to have used REvil ransomware on July 4 in a ransomware attack on the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). In the resulting in a data breach, cybercriminals snatching personal identification information from an internal database. The compromised data came from either CCSO reports or cases going back several years. The gang posted their typical announcement about the hack showing data folders with filenames that appeared to reflect archived case files as well as current cases, including a threat that the files would be uploaded in seven days.

Individual Risk: 2.201 = Severe

While no financial information was reported as stolen, PII was involved in the breach – not to mention potentially damaging or embarrassing legal records.

Customers Impacted: 2,000+

How it Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: Ransomware is most commonly delivered via a phishing email, although cybercriminals are expanding their use of phishing through messaging and SMS text.

Source:
https://www.govtech.com/security/Texas-County-Notified-Thousands-of-Residents-of-Data-Breach.html?&web_view=true