Augusta

2023: City life paralyzed by ransomware virus

On May 25, 2023, the mayor's office of the American city of Augusta (Georgia) reported a massive cyber attack, due to which it was necessary to disable some computer systems. The BlackByte ransomware group claimed responsibility for organizing the attack.

Problems in the work of the IT infrastructure of Augusta began to be observed on May 21, 2023. Authorities said in an official statement that there were "technical difficulties unrelated to the blackout." Later, information appeared that the problems were explained by the invasion of the ransomware virus. The attackers announced the theft of at least 10 GB of data, demanding a ransom of $50 million for restoring the functionality of urban information systems. However, the mayor's office of Augusta, the oldest city in Georgia with a population of about 200 thousand people, publicly denies an extortion attack.

Augusta, GA, USA

Recent media reports that Augusta was taken hostage for $50 million as a result of the introduction of a ransomware program are incorrect. The Information Technology Department continues to work diligently to investigate the incident and restore the full functionality of our services. We are continuing to investigate what sensitive data may have been affected in the attack. Thank you for your patience and understanding and we apologize for the inconvenience caused, the authorities said in a statement.

The data stolen by cybercriminals includes information about the city budget, questionnaires for applications for employment and payment requests. In addition, Excel spreadsheets with hundreds of names and addresses that can belong to enterprises and individuals associated with the municipality were leaked. Augusta law enforcement agencies continue to investigate the incident, which actually paralyzed the work of city IT services.^[1]

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