“ZooTampa Main Entrance” by daveynin is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
ZooTampa, one of the most popular zoos in the United States, recently faced a cyberattack. Once the incident was discovered, the zoo immediately engaged third-party forensic specialists who helped to secure the network environment and subsequently examined the amount of unauthorized activity, according to a spokesperson.
Why it matters: Although the cyberattack was addressed promptly, it still had a significant impact on the zoo. According to ZooTampa, it involved the theft of employee and vendor information. All parties were promptly notified of information that could have been compromised.
- BlackSuit is taking credit for the incident. They are a probable offshoot of the Royal ransomware gang, which is also credited for the cyberattack on the City of Dallas recently.
- The attack was small in size but big in scale, given that the zoo is ranked as a top 10 zoo in the country.
- BlackSuit is a new group that initially appeared in May. They have displayed three victims on their extortion site thus far. The group is believed to have experienced cybercriminals running their operation and to have ties with Conti, a ransomware gang that broke apart in June of last year.
