The Medusa ransomware group says it is responsible for an attack on a government agency in Texas.
The Tarrant County Appraisal District - which determines property values for tax purposes in the Fort Worth area - confirmed to Recorded Future News two weeks ago that it was a victim of a ransomware attack.
On Monday, the Medusa cybercrime gang took credit for the incident, threatening to leak nearly 218 gigabytes of data in six days if a $100,000 ransom is not paid.
County officials did not respond to requests for comment about whether the ransom would be paid, but they released a warning on April 3 that about 300 people had data accessed by the hackers.
In addition to the Tarrant County incident, the Medusa gang recently attacked the government of an Illinois county on the border with Iowa.
The group first emerged in 2023, and its victim list quickly grew to include an Italian company that provides drinking water to nearly half a million people; one of the largest school districts in Minnesota; the French town of Sartrouville; Tonga's state-owned telecommunications company; and most recently the government organization that manages the universal healthcare system of the Philippines.
In January, the hackers attempted to extort Water for People, a nonprofit that aims to improve access to clean water.
Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014.
Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia.
He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Tue, 09 Apr 2024 14:40:39 +0000