Officials with the city of Summerville, South Carolina, on Monday revealed that sensitive data may have been stolen following a ransomware attack last Friday.
Authorities began investigating the attack as soon as they discovered it, but have not specified what data the hackers accessed, according to social media posts on Monday. The South Carolina Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Task Force, led by the South Carolina Department of Law Enforcement, which includes the SLED Computer Crimes Unit, the FBI and the South Carolina National Guard, is assisting in the investigation.
The small South Carolina town, located 25 miles northwest of Charleston and with a population of about 50,000, claimed in a press release on Friday announcing the ransomware attack that there was “no evidence that any data or sensitive documents were compromised.”
“While there is still much to learn, we are working diligently to determine what data may have been accessed, and our mission is to keep our community informed every step of the way,” Somerville spokesman Christopher Makowski said in an emailed statement to StateScoop.
Ransomware attacks on local governments are becoming increasingly frequent and can cause long-term disruption in small towns that often have limited resources to restore systems quickly.
In May, the National Cyber Director released a report on the U.S. cybersecurity posture, noting that “ransomware groups have built a business model around targeting schools, hospitals, small businesses, and many other organizations that are poorly equipped to defend themselves.”
Last week, Jefferson County, Kentucky, and the city of Columbus, Ohio, suffered cybersecurity incidents that disrupted city and county services and forced the shutdown of several government agencies.
Author: Sophia Fox Sowell Sophia Fox Sowell reports on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and government regulation for StateScoop. She was previously a multimedia producer at CNET, where she covered private sector innovation in food production, climate change, and space through podcasts and video content. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Wagner College and an MA in Media Innovation from Northeastern University.
