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The
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Friday declined to
confirm or deny reports that ransomware group Rhysida was behind
the cyberattack and stole department data, including sensitive
employee information, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
The department said in a news release Friday that the claims
referenced in recent media coverage were part of its
investigation.
Department spokesperson Lauren Wirtis declined to comment on
whether Rhysida had contacted the department or asked for a
ransom, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
The department said it had not “engaged" in ransom discussions
“with any entity claiming to have information stolen from DEQ
for sale." It added that it would provide more details when it
has verified information.
The department, which regulates air, water and land quality,
first announced the cyberattack roughly two weeks ago. Services,
including vehicle smog inspections and agency emails, were
interrupted.
Most servers are back online and hundreds of staff are now
working on laptops, Wirtis said in an email Friday. The
department had said last week that most employees didn’t have
laptops and were working from their phones.
Potentially impacted servers and all employee computers have to
be rebuilt in order to ensure no infected files remain, the
department said.
Multiple cyberattacks have been attributed to Rhysida in recent
years, including ones last year targeting the operator of
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Ohio's capital city of
Columbus.
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