Columbus Data Breach Affects 500,000 in Recent Cyberattack

In July, a ransomware attack on Columbus, Ohio, compromised the personal information of an estimated 500,000 residents, marking one of the largest cyber incidents to affect a city in the United States in recent years.

There has been great interest in the attack linked to the Rhysida ransomware group due to the extent of the data stolen as well as the controversy surrounding the city’s response. 

The City of Columbus, the state capital of Ohio, has confirmed that hackers stole data from 500,000 residents during a ransomware attack in July, locking them out. 

The City of Columbus confirmed in a filing with the state attorney general that a “foreign cyber threat actor” had infiltrated the city’s network to access information about residents, including their names, dates of birth, addresses, ID documents, Social Security numbers, and bank accounts.  

With a population of 900,000 people, the city in Ohio has the largest population of any municipality in the state, with around half a million people affected by the flooding, but the exact number of victims has yet to be determined. 

In a regulatory filing, the city revealed that it had “thwarted” a ransomware attack on July 18 of this year, which was the effect of disconnecting its network from the internet to thwart the attack.

This attack has been claimed by the Rhysida ransomware group, which specializes in crypto-ransomware attacks.

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