The small Canadian town in Ontario has been struck by a LockBit ransomware campaign that resulted in data encryption and operational disruption. Based on the report, the central internal IT systems are inaccessible, but essential services such as water treatment and transportation are fully operational.
The St. Mary town is the home of about 7,500 individuals and appeared to be the latest victim of the infamous LockBit ransomware gang. Last month, a post from the LockBit website revealed that St. Mary is their latest victim of ransomware.
According to the mayor, their town immediately responded to the attack with the aid of cybersecurity experts. Moreover, the town instantly received a ransom demand from LockBit after encrypting the town’s data. However, St. Mary has not paid any amount to this day.
LockBit revealed more proof in their attack against St. Mary, Ontario.
LockBit shared several screenshots on their site showing the file structure of a Windows OS that contained directories corresponding to the municipal operations such as health, safety, finance, property files, public works, and sewage treatment.
Unfortunately, LockBit warned the town regarding a deadline they should follow to pay the ransom. LockBit will publicly expose or delete the stolen data if a ransom is not paid before the deadline.
The ransomware group claimed about 50 incidents last month, making it the most hostile ransomware group globally. St. Mary is not even the smallest town the group has targeted since LockBit included a small town in Colorado in their latest claim.
The ransomware group revealed that they are currently demanding approximately $200,000 as ransom if the town does not want to expose their data. As of now, the small town in Colorado is home to more than 15,000 people.
Today, even the smallest towns can be the subject of ransomware attacks from sophisticated malicious threat groups with expertise in resources and technical knowledge. Last March, the FBI cyber division group revealed an advisory to private industry partners of government agencies regarding the surge of ransomware attacks against small towns in the US.
