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{"id":10632,"date":"2022-07-23T14:38:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T14:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/07\/23\/a-small-canadian-town-is-being-extorted-by-a-global-ransomware-gang\/"},"modified":"2022-07-23T14:38:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T14:38:53","slug":"a-small-canadian-town-is-being-extorted-by-a-global-ransomware-gang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/07\/23\/a-small-canadian-town-is-being-extorted-by-a-global-ransomware-gang\/","title":{"rendered":"A small Canadian town is being extorted by a global ransomware gang"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/7\/22\/23274372\/st-marys-canada-lockbit-ransomware-cyber-incident<\/a>
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The Canadian town of St. Marys, Ontario, has been hit by a ransomware attack that has locked staff out of internal systems and encrypted data.<\/p>\n

The small town of around 7,500 residents seems to be the latest target of the notorious LockBit ransomware group. On July 22nd, a post on LockBit\u2019s dark web site listed townofstmarys.com as a victim of the ransomware and previewed files that had been stolen and encrypted.<\/p>\n

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LockBit ransom listing for the Town of St. Marys<\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In a phone call, St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee told The Verge<\/em> that the town was responding to the attack with the help of a team of experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, we\u2019re in somewhat of a state of shock,\u201d Strathdee said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a good feeling to be targeted, but the experts we\u2019ve hired have identified what the threat is and are walking us through how to respond. Police are interested and have dedicated resources to the case … there are people here working on it 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strathdee said that after systems were locked, the town had received a ransom demand from the LockBit ransomware gang but had not paid anything to date. In general, the Canadian government\u2019s cybersecurity guidance discouraged the paying of ransoms, Strathdee said, but the town would follow the incident team\u2019s advice on how to engage further.<\/p>\n

Screenshots shared on the LockBit site show the file structure of a Windows operating system, containing directories corresponding to municipal operations like finance, health and safety, sewage treatment, property files, and public works. Per LockBit\u2019s standard operating methods, the town was given a deadline by which to pay to have their systems unlocked or else see the data published online.<\/p>\n

Brett O\u2019Reilly, communications manager for the town of St. Marys, directed The Verge<\/em> to a press statement issued by St. Marys<\/a> in which the town gave further details. Per the statement, essential municipal services like transit and water systems have been unaffected by the incident, and the town is attempting to unlock IT systems and restore backup data.<\/p>\n

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