D.C. MPD Confirms Hacking Incident on Their Servers, FBI Helps in Investigation
D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) confirmed on Monday that a hacking incident has occurred on their department's server. The FBI is now in the process of investigating the incident that allowed unauthorized access on servers of the department, Fox Business reported.
It can be remembered that earlier in the year, about 30,000 organizations in the United States have also been affected by a different software hacking incident where Microsoft Outlook was targeted by hackers. The hacking incident in early March victimized different sectors such as town governments, credit unions, and small businesses.
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D.C. Police Department Server Hacked
Despite confirming unauthorized access on their servers, the department is still determining the full impact of the said hacking incident, NBC News reported.
"We are aware of unauthorized access on our servers," said a spokesperson in a statement acquired by Fox Business. The spokesperson who was not identified also furthered that they are still in the process of continuing their "review activity." However, the spokesperson from D.C. MPD has noted that they sought the help of the FBI to "fully investigate" the depth of the said incident.
The recent breach in the servers of D.C. MPD is the latest in the series of apparent hack attacks targeting the federal government agencies and the businesses in the U.S. in recent months, Axios noted.
Babuk Ransomware Group has breached @DCPoliceDept. Extortion demand has not been stated. Some data has already been leaked online - images shown are of police reports, FBI arrest details, internal memos, and more.
Images from Babuk Ransomware Groups website: pic.twitter.com/8ChSmXyaW4— vx-underground (@vxunderground) April 26, 2021
Meanwhile, a tweet from a Twitter account VX-Underground surfaced claiming that Babuk Ransomware Group is the one behind the hacking incident on D.C. MPD's servers. VX-Underground noted that some data from the department have already been leaked online, such as police reports, FBI arrest details, and internal memos.
However, D.C. MPD has not yet confirmed the allegations raised by VX-Underground on Twitter.
Babuk Ransomware
Babuk Ransomware is reported to be a ransomware threat that was discovered in 2020. McAfee noted that the said ransomware has already impacted at least five big enterprises or companies as of January 15, 2021.
Despite the threat identified, McAfee also emphasized the complete tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the criminals behind Babuk remained to be unconfirmed. Moreover, the individuals behind the Babuk Ransomware have expressed that they are against the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the LGBT community.
Although D.C. MPD has not yet furthered on the depth of the recent incident their servers had faced, the police department is known to have more than 4,000 sworn and civilian members. Furthermore, the department is also known as the largest department in the United States.
Among all the five big enterprises that were victimized by Babuk, McAfee noted that one enterprise or company is already paying the criminals about $85,000 after the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has not yet released a piece of clear information and details if there are any data or information stolen during the unauthorized access. Axios also noted that it is still unclear whether police operations were affected by the breach.
READ MORE: White House Considers New Approach on Cybersecurity Following Undetected Hacks
WATCH: Cybersecurity for Federal Government - from KPMG US
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