The U.S. Marshals Service suffered a “major” security breach last month that exposed sensitive personal employee data. The agency discovered the breach on February 17th and moved quickly to disconnect the affected system.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Drew Wade told NBC News, “The affected system contains law enforcement sensitive information, including returns from legal process, administrative information, and personally identifiable information pertaining to subjects of USMS investigations, third parties, and certain USMS employees.”
Senior agency and Justice Department officials determined the incident was serious and opened an investigation into the attack. While the investigation is ongoing, USMS has found workarounds to continue operations.
This is just the latest example of cybercriminals targeting government systems for ransomware attacks. Schools and hospitals are routinely targets.
The FBI announced last month that it had dismantled an international ransomware network responsible for cyberattacks on schools, hospitals, and financial firms, saving potentially $130 million.
