Hackers have begun to focus their cyberattacks on cities

Aug 26, 2021 12:48 GMT  ·  By

Following reports of personal data leaked online from the entire population, a small Swiss town revealed that it had misjudged the seriousness of the cyber attack late in the day before, according to Security Week

Rolle, a small, lovely town on the beaches of Lake Geneva, acknowledged that it had been targeted by a ransomware attack and that sensitive information on some administrative systems had been compromised. The attack took place on May 30 and the city government said that only modest amounts of data were compromised at the time. Moreover, all information was restored from backup copies of the original files. However, according to an investigation published Wednesday by the French daily Le Temps, the attack was considerably larger.

Cybercriminals stole names, residences, and social security numbers

Le Temps cites an unidentified cybersecurity specialist on the dark web who claimed that it took him just 30 minutes to find thousands of Rolle community records. The records were extremely personal and included information such as social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, names, religious affiliations and residence permits of non-Swiss residents, School records were also discovered, including a list of students' grades and information about children previously infected with Covid-19.

A statement issued late Wednesday by Rolle Municipality acknowledged that it underestimated the severity of the cyberattack as well as the potential use of the data. The authorities mentioned that criminal charges were filed in connection with the incident,

Although it admitted that the risks of dealing with the hidden website and hostile cyber attacks were foolish, the city said that it organized a task group to look into the matter and worked on a solution with FBI. According to reports, Le Temps said that its journalists saw spreadsheets with information on all the citizens of the city.