Hackers threaten to expose informants for Washington, DC police

The Babuk Locker ransomware operators attacked the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, United States. They are demanding a ransom and threatening to expose informants, издание The Record reports.

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia confirmed unauthorized access to the server after screenshots of internal department files appeared on the attackers’ site.

The hackers stole investigation reports, personnel files, dossiers on local gangs, photographs of criminals and administrative documents. According to the extortionists, they seized over 250 GB of data in total.

Data: The Record.

If the ransom is not paid within three days, Babuk Locker threaten to contact gang representatives and disclose the names of members who are police informants.

The amount and currency of the ransom were not disclosed, but the attackers typically demand Bitcoin.

Representatives of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, in cooperation with the FBI, are investigating the incident.

The Babuk Locker group began operations in January 2021 and has already affected several large companies, including the Houston Rockets basketball club and the Spanish electronics retailer Phone House. The latter did not pay the ransom to the extortionists, and as a result more than 100 GB of data and a customer database of 12.7 million records were placed in the public domain, сообщает Telegram channel “Information Leaks”.

Data: Telegram channel “Information Leaks”.

One of the group’s distinguishing features is its ability to encrypt files stored on distributed virtual hard drives.

In March, the Babuk extortion operators stole more than 700 GB of data from the American military contractor PDI Group.

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