Mississippi-based Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association had information from 20,997 customers stolen following a cyberattack in late August, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Investigation into the incident completed in October revealed that only "limited" personal information had been compromised from affected individuals, who were informed and given complimentary identity protection services in December. While the electric utility — which serves almost 100,000 people across half a dozen counties along the Mississippi River and Louisiana border — redacted other impacted data aside from customers' names as well as did not provide information regarding the type of attack, such an intrusion had been claimed by the Akira ransomware gang, which purported stealing files with financial records and Social Security numbers. Akira, which commenced operations in March 2023, was noted by the FBI to have become one of the most prolific ransomware groups after amassing $42 million from nearly 250 attacks in just a year.
