Californian City of Modesto suffers a Snatch ransomware attack, loses citizens' personal data

The notorious Snatch ransomware group has claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on the City of Modesto, California, in February this year.

In a data breach notice sent to affected individuals, the City of Modesto said that on February 3, it experienced a cyber attack that affected portions of its computer systems.

“Upon discovering the incident, we promptly took action to secure the network, commenced an investigation, and a third-party cybersecurity firm was engaged to assist. During the course of the investigation, the City learned that some data was accessed during the incident between January 31, 2023, and February 3, 2023,” the City’s data incident notification read.

The City’s internal investigation further revealed that the files accessed by threat actors contained sensitive personal information including name, address, Social Security number, medical information included in work status reports, driver’s license number, and/or state-issued identification number.

The notorious Snatch ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on the City but did not share how much data was exfiltrated from the City’s internal systems.

Initially, it was reported that the cyber attack affected the city’s police department and officers had to rely on pen and paper as patrol vehicle laptops were not working. The City has acknowledged the importance of the security incident and started notifying all affected individuals.

“Our world is extremely interconnected and cyber threats have become so diverse that simply having the right technical tools in place isn’t enough to prevent attacks from happening and mitigating the fallout.

“It’s important to consider the human element and ensure that there is a well-trained team of experts who know what to do when something goes wrong.” Andrew Gonzales, legislative affairs manager for the City said.

Earlier this month, the City of Oak Ridge in the U.S. state of Tennessee suffered a cyber attack that affected its internal IT systems and forced it to close several offices. The City said in a notice on its website that it experienced “network issues following a malware attack and is working diligently to gather more information”.

The City clarified that the security incident did not affect emergency services and that residents could call 911 to connect with Oak Ridge Police and Fire departments. City Manager Mark Watson and assistant City Manager Jack Suggs described the cyber incident as a “business process attack” and City offices were facing difficulty in operating emails and several other works that need the City’s computer network.

This forced the offices in the Municipal Building, the Utility Business Office, and the Planning and Development permit desk to shut operations until further notice.