Tag Archive for: Jefferson

Jefferson County Schools Hit By Ransomware


(TNS) — The Jefferson County School System said it was the victim of a ransomware computer attack during Spring Break.

The school system said in a news release that its technology team “took immediate steps to stop the attack and notified state and local authorities.”

According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, ransomware is “a form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption.”


Attackers sometimes also threaten to release sensitive data unless a ransom is paid.

The school system said preliminary investigations have not revealed any evidence of a breach of sensitive personally identifiable information.

“We will continue to investigate any possibility of compromised data and notify stakeholders accordingly if discovered,” the news release stated. “We have engaged outside cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials to assist.”

The district said it uses multiple security protocols including filtering, firewalls, and antivirus systems, which allowed them to catch the attack early.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken all network systems down to investigate thoroughly,” the system said. “These networks will be reconnected as we take steps to ensure all traces of malware are gone.”

©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Jeremy Hammond, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office hacker, released from prison


Computer hacker Jeremy Hammond, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for breaking into computer systems of security firms and law-enforcement agencies, will serve out the remainder of his term in a Chicago halfway house, a U.S. Bureau of Prison spokesman said Wednesday.

Hammond, who has gained mythic status among his supporters, was released Tuesday from the Memphis Federal Correctional Institution in Tennessee to community confinement, said Bureau of Prisons spokesman Emery Nelson. Citing privacy and security reasons, Nelson refused to release information on the conditions of Hammond’s confinement. He is scheduled for release in March.

The FBI arrested Hammond, who prosecutors called a hacking “recidivist,” during a 2012 raid on his Chicago home after getting the cooperation of Hector Xavier Monsegur, a hacker who helped law enforcement infiltrate the hacking movement “Anonymous,” which led to the conviction of eight hackers.

The raid came after Hammond penetrated the Texas-based security think tank Strategic Forecasting Inc., known as Stratfor. The company’s clients include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department. He was also accused of hacking the FBI’s Virtual Academy, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

He’d been working with a subgroup of “Anonymous” to disrupt the networks of Sony Pictures, the Public Broadcasting Service, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and others when a member of the group enlisted him to help break into Stratfor’s systems.

The hackers posted emails between Stratfor employees and clients on the WikiLeaks website, along with credit card data from a client list that included Northrop Grumman, the Marine Corps and Time Warner Cable. They used some of the credit card numbers to donate money to the Red Cross, according to court records.

Federal prosecutors alleged the Stratfor hack resulted in more than a million dollars in losses to individuals and threatened public safety.

Hammond argued during his sentencing the hacks were civil disobedience to expose the pervasiveness of government and private surveillance.

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