Ransomware, Malware, Breach, Threat Management

Vice Society attack on LAUSD compromised contractors’ data

The Los Angeles Unified School District has disclosed that files with contractors' Social Security numbers and other personal data were stolen by the Vice Society ransomware operation in an attack over the Labor Day weekend, reports BleepingComputer. Vice Society was able to compromise the network of LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the U.S., between July 31 and Sept. 3, said LAUSD in data breach notification letters sent to impacted individuals. "On January 9, 2023, we identified labor compliance documents, including certified payroll records, that contractors provided to L.A. Unified in connection with Facilities Services Division projects," LAUSD added. Vice Society was earlier confirmed by LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to have leaked the stolen data on its website, with attackers noting to BleepingComputer that 500 GB of data had been stolen from the school district's systems. LAUSD then emphasized that it would not provide the ransom demanded by Vice Society, which the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and MS-ISAC flagged as disproportionately attacking the U.S. education industry.

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