Late this winter, an international hacking syndicate suspected of conducting ransomware attacks around the globe turned its attention to the police department in the San Gabriel Valley city of Azusa.
Through means that remain unclear, the hacking group DoppelPaymer appears to have infiltrated computers in the 63-officer department and gained access to critical data. A demand for money followed.
For the next two and a half months, officials in the city of 48,000 kept the hack a secret. They said nothing in March as they strategized with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and ransomware consultants, and remained mum in April when they opted not to pay, and hundreds of highly sensitive files, including criminal case files and payroll data, spilled out online.
It was only on Friday, the eve of a Memorial Day weekend and a preferred time for organizations to quietly release negative news, that the city first acknowledged the hack and its potential risk to the privacy of citizens and employees.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.