Pennsylvania AG Office says ransomware attack behind recent outage

The Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General has said that a ransomware attack behind the ongoing two-week outage was the cause of the disruption. According to The Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, Attorney General David W. Sunday Jr. stated that the interruption was caused by an outsider encrypting files to force a payment, and that no payment has been made. He noted that an active investigation is ongoing with other agencies, which limits further comment on the incident.

The AG’s Office first announced on 11 August that it had suffered a cybersecurity incident that took down several systems, including the public website, email accounts and landline phones. At the time of writing, the website remained unavailable, with staff working via alternate channels; the agency does not expect the situation to affect criminal prosecutions, investigations or civil proceedings.

No ransomware group has claimed responsibility, and this is the third time ransomware gangs have targeted a Pennsylvania state entity, following incidents in 2020 and 2017.