Italian water provider Alto Calore Servizi SpA serving 500,000 people has been hit by a ransomware attack.
See also: US Marshals Service still recovering from February ransomware attack
An Italian company, which provides drinking water to almost half a million people, is experiencing some technical disruptions after a ransomware attack.
Alto Calore Servizi SpA manages the collection, supply and distribution of drinking water for 125 municipalities in Avellino and Benevento – two provinces in southern Italy. The government company also manages the sewage and cleaning services for both provinces.
The company manages 58 million cubic meters of water annually. However, on Friday, the company announced that a recent hack had rendered all of its IT systems unusable.
The organization did not respond to requests for comment on whether customers are affected by the incident, but it appears that water distribution is not affected by the attack.
See also: Ransomware attack continues at Bluefield University
On Tuesday, the hacking group Medusa claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was giving the water company seven days to pay the ransom. Medusa provided samples of the data it had stolen and, like other victims, offered them several options: pay $10,000 to extend the ransom deadline by one day or $100,000 to delete all of the stolen data.
The team said it had taken customer data, contracts, board meeting minutes, reports, pipe distribution information, expansion documents and more.
Italy's public institutions have faced ransomware gangs several times in the past year. The country's tax agency was attacked by the LockBit ransomware group in July 2020, while the Italian energy agency that manages the country's electricity market was attacked in September 2020.
Two of the country's largest energy companies, Eni and Gestore dei Servizi Energetici, faced ransomware attacks last year.
Concerns have been raised globally about attacks on water suppliers after a series of incidents in various countries. South Staffordshire Water, which supplies water to more than 1.7 million people in England, was severely damaged by a ransomware attack in August 2022, while several water suppliers in the US have faced ransomware incidents.
See also: City of Dallas attacked by Royal ransomware
Source of information: therecord.media
