Security News > 2023 > July > Hawai'i Community College pays ransomware gang to prevent data leak

The Hawaiʻi Community College has admitted that it paid a ransom to ransomware actors to prevent the leaking of stolen data of approximately 28,000 people.

On June 19th, 2023, the relatively new NoEscape ransomware gang listed UH on its extortion portal, threatening to publish 65 GB of stolen data in a week if a ransom was not paid.

A day later, the College confirmed they suffered a ransomware attack on June 13th, 2023, warning students and faculty that they shut down IT systems to prevent the spread of the malware.

After a ransom payment was made, the ransomware gang removed the University of Hawai'i entry from their data leak site, which is commonly done after paying the extortion demand.

Paying a ransom to prevent the leak of data does not always go as planned.

In the past, threat actors have promised to destroy data but have not kept their word, continuing to extort the victims or releasing the data.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hawaii-community-college-pays-ransomware-gang-to-prevent-data-leak/