Delaware County authorities paid hackers $500,000 in Bitcoin

The Delaware County information systems in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania were hit by a DoppelPaymer ransomware attack. Authorities paid the attackers $500,000 in Bitcoin, according to Bleeping Computer.

The attack did not affect the voting and emergency-response systems. The ransomware operators gained access to police reports, payment documents, procurement information, and other databases.

“For the investigation of the incident, cybersecurity specialists have been invited to determine the nature and scope of the breach. We are working to restore the functionality of the systems,” said county officials.

Following the transfer of the ransom, the hackers advised authorities to change passwords and provided guidance on Windows domain configuration to activate protection against the Mimikatz utility.

Earlier, specialists from Positive Technologies discovered that cyber extortionists have shifted from mass to targeted attacks. Their victims are large companies capable of paying sizeable ransoms.

entered the ranks of the five most dangerous ransomware families, alongside NetWalker, Ryuk, Maze and REvil.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: ForkLog FEED — full feed of news, ForkLog — the most important news and polls.