Security News > 2023 > May > BlackByte ransomware crew lists city of Augusta after cyber 'incident'
![BlackByte ransomware crew lists city of Augusta after cyber 'incident'](/static/build/img/news/blackbyte-ransomware-crew-lists-city-of-augusta-after-cyber-incident-medium.jpg)
BlackByte ransomware crew has claimed Augusta, Georgia, as its latest victim, following what the US city's mayor has, so far, only called a cyber "Incident."
In a Wednesday statement about the "Network outage" posted on the city's website, Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson said the "Technical difficulties" - which disrupted some of the city's computer systems - started on Sunday, May 21.
By Thursday FOX54 reported that the incident was a ransomware intrusion and the extortion gang had demanded the city pay $50 million.
"Several city officials" met with FBI agents about the cyber incident, according to the news outlet.
BlackByte, a ransomware-as-a-service gang that has compromised at least three critical infrastructure sectors in the US - government facilities, financial, and food and agriculture - listed the city on its data leak site and claimed to have stolen 10GB of "Sensitive data," according to a screenshot posted by Emsisoft Threat Analyst Brett Callow.
Still, Augusta "Has had a cyber incident, and a ransomware operation has claimed responsibility for that incident. So, yeah, it probably was a ransomware incident," Callow told The Register.
News URL
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/05/26/blackbyte_augusta_malware/