The group behind the ransomware attack is the Babuk Locker gang.
The District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the sole law enforcement agency in the whole district, is the latest victim of a ransomware attack.
The high-profile government agency confirmed the news only after the Babuk Locker gang posted about stealing D.C. Police department’s networks and stealing 250 GB of unencrypted files.
SEE: 70% of DC Police CCTV cameras were hacked before presidential inauguration
The message was posted on the Dark Web by the group, along with screenshots of the data.
Hacked Data includes Sensitive Intelligence Data
As per the screenshots shared by the Babuk Locker group, the stolen data includes different folders, including investigative reports, disciplinary actions, and arrests-related reports, and intelligence briefings.
Attackers Demand for Ransom
The attackers gave the MPD three days to fulfill their ransom demand and threatened them to leaking the data if they don’t receive the ransom. On their data leak website, Babuk Locker posted this message:
“Hello! Even an institution such as D.C. can be threatened, we have downloaded a sufficient amount of information from your internal networks, and we advise you to contact us as soon as possible, to prevent leakage, if no response is received within 3 days, we will start to contact gangs in order to drain the informants, we will continue to attack the state sector of the USA, FBI, we find 0 days before you, even larger attacks await you soon,” the ransomware group said on their data leak site.
However, the police department has involved the FBI and has not yet given in to the attackers’ demand.
“We are aware of unauthorized access on our server. While we determine the full impact and continue to review activity, we have engaged the FBI to fully investigate this matter,” MPD’s statement read.
About Babuk Locker
Babuk Locker group is a relatively new entrant in the ransomware ecosystem. This gang is known for targeting Linux-based systems like VMware ESXi.
SEE: Police lose evidence to Ryuk ransomware attack; suspects walk free
The group has targeted healthcare, transportation, plastics, electronics, and agriculture sectors across the U.K., USA, UAE, South Africa, China, Germany, Spain, India, and Italy in 2021.
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