Portuguese water utility attacked by LockBit

Major Portuguese water supply and wastewater cleaning firm Aguas e Energia do Porto, which services nearly 500,000 residents in Portugal's second-largest city, has been impacted by a ransomware attack on Feb. 8, which was claimed to be conducted by the LockBit ransomware operation, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Aguas e Energia do Porto, which was noted by cybersecurity expert Dominic Alvieri to be added to LockBit's leak site on Feb. 18, was warned to pay the demanded ransom by March 7 to prevent the publication of stolen data. While the intrusion has not impacted public water supply and sanitation, the utility noted constraints in some of its customer services, with customers being advised to secure virtual service tickets for their concerns.

Such an attack comes almost two months after LockBit compromised the systems of Portugal's Port of Lisbon, which is one of the most used ports for goods across Europe.