The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has confirmed that it was hit by a ransomware attack last month and is continuing to deal with its impact.
SEPA’s contact centre, internal systems and processes have been affected by the attack, which occurred on Christmas Eve. The Scottish government agency responsible for environmental protection has confirmed that 1.2GB of data was stolen during the attack – including personal information relating to SEPA staff.
Despite the ransomware attack, SEPA's ability to provide flood forecasting and warning services, as well as other services, was not disrupted.
However, while the infected systems have been isolated, SEPA's latest update on the ransomware attack says that recovery will take some time and that some systems will continue to be "affected for an extended period of time.".
While the organization itself has not confirmed which form of ransomware affected it, the group behind the Conti ransomware has released some data saying it is stolen data from the Scottish government.
Data theft is very common among ransomware gangs. They use the stolen data to blackmail victims by threatening to leak their information if they don't pay the ransom they demand.
SEPA has not yet analyzed how the hackers were able to enter the network and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
"We are aware that this incident has impacted the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and we are working with law enforcement agencies to understand its impact," an NCSC spokesperson told ZDNet.
Ransomware has become one of the most annoying and destructive cyberattacks an organization can face, and hackers show no signs of stopping this type of attack as blackmail victims who eventually pay the ransom demanded.
Information source: zdnet.com
