RansomHub claims theft of 119GB of data from indigenous American tribe’s network

Cyber crime group RansomHub has claimed that it hacked into the network of Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and stole more than 100 gigabytes of confidential data.

In a social media post last week, Sault Tribe chairman Austin Lowes said that the tribal administration was a victim of a ransomware attack that affected the tribe’s internal network.

“On Sunday morning, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians suffered a ransomware attack. This attack impacted multiple computer and phone systems across tribal administration, including the casinos, health centers and various businesses. In response, the tribe has had to temporarily close many departments and businesses,” said Lowes.

While the administrators hoped to restore the affected systems within a week, there is no definite time frame for resuming normal operations.

“While progress has not been as fast as we would like, there is measurable progress, including the establishment of new phone numbers that have been posted to our tribe’s Facebook page. Right now, we expect the tribe will continue to operate in a limited capacity for up to another week. Regular updates will continue to be made on our Facebook page as restoration efforts progress,” reads an update from Chairman Lowes.

On February 15, the RansomHub ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on the tribe and listed it as a victim on its data leak site. The group claims to be in possession of 119 GB of the tribe’s confidential data and has threatened to publish it within 3 days if its ransom demands aren’t met.

The ransomware attack also affected the tribe’s healthcare systems significantly. All non-emergency and scheduled appointments at the medical office for primary care, radiology and the Dental Department have been cancelled, however, they are still accepting emergency walk-ins. It is unclear whether the tribe’s leaders engaged with the criminal group to regain access to the stolen data.