Tag Archive for: suit

Kershaw County School Hit By Black Suit Ransomware

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The Kershaw County School District, a prominent educational institution in the USA, has allegedly fallen victim to a cyberattack by the notorious Black Suit ransomware group.

The cybercriminals claim to successfully infiltrated the school’s systems, leading to the unauthorized extraction and subsequent leak of a staggering 17.5 GB of sensitive data.

Magnitude of Cyberattack on Kershaw County School

The Kershaw County School District, accommodating more than 10,500 students and boasting a staff of over 1,000 employees, has become the latest target in a string of cyberattacks plaguing the US education sector.

The Cyber Express team reached out to school authorities for confirmation of the cyberattack. However, at the time of reporting, no official response has been received, casting uncertainty over the legitimacy of the cyberattack on Kershaw County School claims.

Interestingly, the school’s official website remains operational and unaffected, raising questions about the credibility of the Kershaw County School cyberattack assertions.

Kershaw County School cyberattack
Source: HackManac

This cyberattack on Kershaw County School marks a recurring trend in the education sector, particularly K-12 institutions, which have increasingly become prime targets for cybercriminals.

Why Educational Institutions Are Targets

A research report from the Center for Internet Security highlights the vulnerability of public schools in the US to such malicious activities. This revelation follows the closure of two US schools due to recent cyberattacks, further highlighting the severity of the situation.

The Jackson County Intermediate School District (ISD) faced a disruptive ‘system outage,’ prompting the closure of several public schools reliant on its technology services. The outage impacted critical systems, including telephones, classroom technology, and heating facilities.

As investigations into the incident continue, Superintendent Kevin Oxley declared a day’s leave for affected schools in Jackson and Hillsdale counties, aiming to facilitate the thorough detection and resolution of the issue.

In a separate incident, Stanford University, a prestigious research institution, grappled with a cybersecurity breach in…

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WGRE Reports DePauw Attacked by Black Suit Ransomware Gang

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Editor’s Note: This article was submitted by WGRE News Director Taylor Fleming. The DePauw gives WGRE full credit for this news piece. 

DePauw’s Cyber incident was an attack by the Black Suit Ransomware gang. Black Suit claims to have stolen two-hundred fourteen gigabytes of data. The gang operates by stealing and encrypting data on a compromised network. This story was originally reported by The Record, a news organization run by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Last week, DePauw notified many students and parents that their social security numbers and other personal information may have been stolen by an unauthorized third party. This third party has turned out to be Black Suit. According to the US government’s Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center, Black Suit is a relatively new ransomware group that was discovered in early May 2023. However, Black Suit is likely linked to another ransomware group called Royal. Royal was the direct successor of defunct Russian hacker group Conti. The FBI has been assisting DePauw University as they navigate this attack. DePauw has offered impacted students one year of free identity protection services. DePauw University found out about the cyber attack on October 31.

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Acrison Suit Against Law Firm in Alleged Hacking Scheme Revived

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A Third Circuit panel revived Acrison Inc.’s civil lawsuit against a law firm and a consumer computer services company over an alleged 2020 hacking scheme, saying the lower court erred in finding the claims time-barred.

The decision filed Friday in the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reverses a New Jersey district court decision granting the dismissal of the federal and state claims against Brach Eichler LLP and Xcellence Inc. on the basis of lapsed statute of limitations, remanding it for further proceedings.

Chief Judge Michael Chagares’ opinion said the lower court “did not apply the legal standard …

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Class action suit filed against LVHN over ransomware hack

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A Philadelphia law firm has filed a class action suit against Lehigh Valley Health Network alleging the hospital has prioritized money over patient privacy after photos of cancer patients were posted on the internet in a ransomware hack.

The suit filed by Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky focuses on photos that were published by hackers with the ransomware collective BlackCat over the last couple of weeks of cancer patients who received treatment through the network. The suit does not name a financial amount being sought for damages, instead requesting that the amount be determined by trial or the court.

The hackers acquired the photos through a ransomware attack on a physician’s practice owned by LVHN. The attack occurred in February and caused a leak of 132 gigabytes of patient data and photos. LVHN leaders have stated they refuse to pay the ransom, a tactic often touted by law enforcement and some cybersecurity experts, but in response, the hackers posted some of the photos online and have threatened to release more sensitive information if their demands are not met.

The suit filing states not only was the leak of these photos regrettable but that LVHN engaged in the “knowing, reckless, and willful, decision to let the hackers post the nude images” of Doe and others to the internet. And it accuses LVHN of “publicly patting itself on the back for standing up to the hackers” but “consciously and intentionally ignoring the real victims.”

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