The San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Authority (MUNI) was recently hit by a ransomware that infected all of its internal systems with malware. The malware was able to infect any vulnerable system, and it seems the SFMTA station was a pretty easy target. The hacker demanded that MUNI pay 100 Bitcoin ($73,000) in exchange for removing the malware and restoring full service.
According to reports, hacker Andy Saoils revealed that San Francisco authorities ignored his request and is now threatening to leak personal data of the service with details about customers, contracts and employees. The much-discussed hacker stressed in a statement that the company's reason for threatening is to wake them up to do their job better and to prove to the public that the state and MUNI do not properly take care of the security of their data. In addition, he confirmed that he has some computers under control and that the ransomware can automatically infect other systems on the network.
MUNI officials have yet to issue a statement on the matter. MUNI systems are operating normally at most stations, but there has been no official statement from transit officials, and it is not yet clear whether the malware has been fully removed. In their defense, they claimed that no data was affected by the breach. The only impact of the attack was that MUNI provided free rides for everyone during the breach.
