The City of Coppell, Texas, has started notifying 16,835 residents of a significant data breach following a cyberattack. This security incident, which occurred last October, has potentially compromised a large amount of sensitive personal information. The impacted data includes Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and private credit card and financial account information. At the time of the attack, the city experienced significant disruption to its services for about a week. City staff were unable to access a number of their critical systems, important government records, and other data.
The city stated that an unknown third party had gained unauthorized access to its network environment on October 23, 2024. Automated security systems responded immediately, helping to contain and mitigate the impact of this serious cyberattack. The ransomware gang known as RansomHub later came forward to claim responsibility for the attack in November of that year. The prolific cybercriminal group alleged that it had successfully stolen 442 gigabytes of data from the city’s systems. The City of Coppell hasn’t confirmed RansomHub’s claims or whether or not a ransom was demanded or paid.
In 2024, the RansomHub ransomware group was responsible for 118 confirmed attacks and a further 428 unconfirmed attacks. So far this year, it’s been confirmed as the group behind eight different attacks on various government entities. These targets include the City of Tarrant in the US and the South African Weather Service among others. Since March of this year, however, the RansomHub group has “gone dark” from the global cybersecurity landscape. Many security experts are suggesting that its affiliates have likely moved on to other active ransomware gangs, such as Qilin.
Throughout 2024, there were ninety-five confirmed ransomware attacks on United States government entities, a very high number. So far this year, we have seen another thirty-five attacks, showing a continued and very concerning upward trend. As this recent attack on the City of Coppell shows, these incidents cause widespread disruption through system encryption. They can also have a very long-term effect on residents when their sensitive personal data is stolen by hackers. This highlights the ongoing and severe threat that ransomware poses to public sector organizations across the United States.
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