Ransomware becoming growing problem for government, including police departments
Ransomware is a type of malicious software or malware that hackers use to infect and hobble a computer or computer network until a ransom is paid, and it’s become a growing problem for law enforcement across the nation.
For instance, NBC News reported last month that ransomware hackers posted an “enormous trove of sensitive files to the internet” from the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department.
The files included at least six reports detailing suspected child abuse, including the names and birth dates of the children, according to NBC News. “Ransomware hackers often demand payment to not share files,” according to NBC News.
NBC News reported BART police were targeted by a group of ransomware hackers that encrypts sensitive files, preventing the targeted agencies from accessing them, or threatens to release them on the dark web.
NBC News cited a BART official who said the computer breach had not affected BART operations.
“Ransomware is often spread through phishing emails that contain malicious attachments or through drive-by downloading,” according to the University of California at Berkeley. “Drive-by downloading occurs when a user unknowingly visits an infected website and then malware is downloaded and installed without the user’s knowledge.”
UC Berkeley said ransomware also can gain entry to an organization’s network through vulnerable Web servers, and another type is spread through web-based instant-messaging applications.
The cybersecurity firm Emsisoft reported that 106 state and local governments and agencies were the victims of ransomware in 2022, though one incident in Arkansas spread malware to 55 other counties. Emsisoft said that data was stolen in 25% of the breaches and that one city, Quincy, Mass., paid a $500,000 ransom.
The firm also reported that 45 school districts and 44 colleges and universities were targeted by ransomware last year. Emsisoft said the biggest incident was at the Los Angeles Unified School District and its more than 1,300 schools and 500,000 students.
Emsisoft said three school districts paid ransoms, including the Glenn County Office of Education, which is about a two-hour drive north of Sacramento. The office paid $400,000, according to Emsisoft
The Associated Press reported in 2021 that hackers had become more aggressive in targeting law enforcement agencies. That included the hacking and release of sensitive files from the Washington, D.C., police department.
