Last week, the hacking group RansomHub claimed it exfiltrated and published 100 gigabytes of sensitive data from the Florida Department of Health after it refused to meet ransom demands.
While the exact data stolen in unclear, Department of Health press secretary Jae Williams confirmed that the attack affected the state’s online Vital Statistics system which is used to issue birth and death certificates.
The Tampa Bay Times reported Tuesday that state tax collectors’ offices and funeral homes have been unable to issue birth and death certificates when the Department of Health’s online system went down the previous week. As of Wednesday, at least two health offices regained the ability to print birth and death certificates.
Meanwhile, this is the latest in a string of incidents targeting government agencies. On Wednesday, the New Mexico public defender’s office was hit with a ransomware attack and that same day, the Alabama Department of Education announced it had been targeted in a cyberattack last month.
According to Emsisoft, 2,207 U.S. hospitals, schools and governments were affected by ransomware attacks last year.
The Florida Department of Health is responsible for the state’s 67 county health departments and in February, a new state budget for the 2025 fiscal year proposed reverting $40 million, part of Florida’s Local Government Cybersecurity Grant, back into the state’s general fund.
BullWall Executive, Carol Volk had this to say:
“Breaches such as this one by RansomHub, that exfiltratied 100GB of data from the Florida Department of Health, is another persistent reminder of the vulnerability within the public sector. The disruption of the Vital Statistics system, crucial for issuing birth and death certificates, highlights not only the operational impact but also the personal ramifications for residents.
“This incident adds to a growing list of ransomware attacks on government entities, with the New Mexico public defender’s office and the Alabama Department of Education also recently recently targeted. Statistics from Emsisoft reported that over 2,200 U.S. hospitals, schools, and governments fell victim to ransomware last year and underscores the urgency for improved cybersecurity measures. Knowing that this trend will continue, we need to be adding measures such as MFA, encryption and ransomware containment to ensure we have protective layers against data access and exfiltration once the attackers are in-system.
“It’s also concerning that Florida’s 2025 fiscal budget proposes diverting $40 million from the Local Government Cybersecurity Grant back to the general fund, potentially weakening defenses further. We must have sustained investment in cybersecurity to protect critical infrastructure and sensitive data.”
I’ll say two things about this. The first is that RansomHub is on a tear as of late as their victim list continues to grow. The second is that the fact that their victim list continues to grow highlights the fact that not enough time, effort and money are being spent by organizations to keep threat actors out. That needs to change, and moves like diverting $40 million from cybersecurity efforts are ill advised to say the least.
The only good news in this story is that the ransom was not paid. That’s good because threat actors should never profit from their evil deeds.
Related
This entry was posted on July 9, 2024 at 8:15 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Florida Health Department data published after refusing ransom demands
Last week, the hacking group RansomHub claimed it exfiltrated and published 100 gigabytes of sensitive data from the Florida Department of Health after it refused to meet ransom demands.
While the exact data stolen in unclear, Department of Health press secretary Jae Williams confirmed that the attack affected the state’s online Vital Statistics system which is used to issue birth and death certificates.
The Tampa Bay Times reported Tuesday that state tax collectors’ offices and funeral homes have been unable to issue birth and death certificates when the Department of Health’s online system went down the previous week. As of Wednesday, at least two health offices regained the ability to print birth and death certificates.
Meanwhile, this is the latest in a string of incidents targeting government agencies. On Wednesday, the New Mexico public defender’s office was hit with a ransomware attack and that same day, the Alabama Department of Education announced it had been targeted in a cyberattack last month.
According to Emsisoft, 2,207 U.S. hospitals, schools and governments were affected by ransomware attacks last year.
The Florida Department of Health is responsible for the state’s 67 county health departments and in February, a new state budget for the 2025 fiscal year proposed reverting $40 million, part of Florida’s Local Government Cybersecurity Grant, back into the state’s general fund.
BullWall Executive, Carol Volk had this to say:
“Breaches such as this one by RansomHub, that exfiltratied 100GB of data from the Florida Department of Health, is another persistent reminder of the vulnerability within the public sector. The disruption of the Vital Statistics system, crucial for issuing birth and death certificates, highlights not only the operational impact but also the personal ramifications for residents.
“This incident adds to a growing list of ransomware attacks on government entities, with the New Mexico public defender’s office and the Alabama Department of Education also recently recently targeted. Statistics from Emsisoft reported that over 2,200 U.S. hospitals, schools, and governments fell victim to ransomware last year and underscores the urgency for improved cybersecurity measures. Knowing that this trend will continue, we need to be adding measures such as MFA, encryption and ransomware containment to ensure we have protective layers against data access and exfiltration once the attackers are in-system.
“It’s also concerning that Florida’s 2025 fiscal budget proposes diverting $40 million from the Local Government Cybersecurity Grant back to the general fund, potentially weakening defenses further. We must have sustained investment in cybersecurity to protect critical infrastructure and sensitive data.”
I’ll say two things about this. The first is that RansomHub is on a tear as of late as their victim list continues to grow. The second is that the fact that their victim list continues to grow highlights the fact that not enough time, effort and money are being spent by organizations to keep threat actors out. That needs to change, and moves like diverting $40 million from cybersecurity efforts are ill advised to say the least.
The only good news in this story is that the ransom was not paid. That’s good because threat actors should never profit from their evil deeds.
Share this:
Like this:
Related
This entry was posted on July 9, 2024 at 8:15 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.