Law enforcement data were compromised in a ransomware attack on the city government of Wichita, Kansas, giving hackers access to an unspecified number of people’s personal information, including names, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses and other state IDs, and payment card information, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
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The LockBit ransomware gang has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack that took place between May 3 and 4, which forced the authorities to shut down credit card payment systems at all offices, as well as several libraries and airport public Wi-Fi services.
City officials did not disclose which vulnerability was exploited in the attack, saying only that it was a "recently disclosed security vulnerability that affects organizations throughout the world."
Brett Callow, a threat analyst, said he doesn’t think that Lockbit actually sold the data allegedly stolen from the city, adding that it was “nothing more than an attempt by a dying ransomware operation to save face over its failure to monetize an attack.”