The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group has taken responsibility for the cyberattack targeting the First Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, leading to a halt in court proceedings since October 2, 2023.
The Florida Circuit Court cyberattack has been officially confirmed through a statement issued by the court, which also acknowledges its adverse effects on operations across the circuit.
ALPHV ransomware group posted samples of data from the Florida Circuit Court data breach. Cybersecurity Analyst Dominic Alvieri posted a screenshot from the dark web portal of the ALPHV ransomware group.
The dark web portal message pertaining to the Florida Circuit Court ransomware attack had a link to sample data exfiltrated from the systems of the judicial organization.
Data Exfiltrated from Florida Circuit Court Ransomware Attack
The official statement by the court regarding the Florida Circuit Court cyberattack noted that the information technology security event was under investigation.
Addressing the operations impacted, the statement read, “This event will significantly affect court operations across the Circuit, impacting courts in Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties, for an extended period.”
The Florida Circuit Court would be prioritizing essential court proceedings, cancel and reschedule other proceedings and pause related operations for several days,” the statement further added.
The statement provided no specific information regarding the extent of data accessed, the number of individuals affected, or any details about the suspected ransomware attack.
Florida Circuit Court cyberattack Claimed by ALPHV Group
ALPHV ransomware group, however, posted that they would soon publicly release all the exfiltrated data from the Florida Circuit Court cyberattack. They also disclosed that they had stolen 2TB of data as a result of the cyberattack on the Florida court.
The stolen data included personal information about the court’s employees and the judges. The ransomware gang pilfered resumes and Social Security Numbers as well as a complete network map during the Florida Circuit Court data breach.
They were also in possession of credentials for local and remote services, court documents, reports, orders, etc.
ALPHV ransomware group members posted about the First Judicial Circuit ransomware attack on October 9 and then on 10, 2023, while the court proceedings were said to have been paused since October 2, 2023.
This gives rise to the speculations that the hackers communicated their demands to the First Judicial Circuit of Florida and waited for their response. Likely after not receiving a favorable reply, they turned to the dark web with the threat to release all the data from the Florida Circuit Court ransomware attack.
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