Atlantic fisheries commission says cyber security incident disrupted email and phone communications

Virginia-based Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said it experienced a data security incident that disrupted its phone lines and the email system.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an 80-year-old organisation, is a commission of U.S. states formed to coordinate and manage fishery resources. The commission was created by the United States Congress in recognition that “fish do not adhere to political boundaries.”

In an announcement on its website, the Commission said that its email system “is currently down and we are working to resolve it as soon as possible.” It added that an alternative email address and a phone number have been commissioned to enable individuals to communicate till the actual ones are up and running.

While the official website doesn’t state the reason for the communication disruption, Tina Berger, the Commission’s director of communications, told Recorded Future News that the organisation is “responding to a cyber incident affecting our systems.”

On April 15, a group of threat actors known as the 8Base ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on ASMFC and listed the organisation as a victim on its data leak site. The group claimed to be in possession of confidential company documents including invoices, receipts, accounting documents, employee contracts and more.

The ransomware group added that it has a trove of sensitive personal data of individuals associated with the organisation and has threatened to leak the stolen data if ASMFC does not pay a ransom within three days.