Kansas' City of Wichita was claimed to have been disrupted by the LockBit ransomware operation, which threatened to expose all files exfiltrated from the city's network by May 15 should city officials refuse ransom payment, BleepingComputer reports.
After initially reporting the immediate shutdown of computer systems leveraged in the city's online services on Sunday, officials continued to note significant disruptions across the city as a result of the ransomware intrusion, including the suspension of automated water bill payments and the unavailability of public Wi-Fi and phone services at some locations, as well as the loss of several services at the city's library. Online transactions at the city's parks, courts, and golf courses have also been impacted by the incident, said officials.
Meanwhile, LockBit's admission of attacking the City of Wichita may have been done in retaliation to the numerous sanctions against the group's administrator LockBitSupp, which international law enforcement agencies have identified to be Russian national Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev.
