LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho confirmed Sunday that hackers have released data stolen in a cyberattack against the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“Unfortunately, as expected, a criminal organization recently released data,” Carvalho said in a statement. “Working with law enforcement, our experts are analyzing the full extent of this data release.”
The figures were released on Saturday after Carvalho said he refused to pay the ransom to the international hacking group — two days ahead of the hackers’ earlier deadline.
The group that claimed responsibility for the cyberattack had previously set a Monday deadline for the school district to pay the group a ransom.
In a darknet post detected and reposted by Brett Callow of cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, hacker group Vice Society listed LAUSD as one of “our partners” and said: “These papers will be published on October 4, 2022. Posted in London time. 12:00pm”
The post did not say what information has been obtained or will be released.
Carvalho previously acknowledged that the district received a ransom demand from the group responsible for the Labor Day weekend hacks — he declined to be named.
“We can admit … the actor (the hacker) has communicated and we have responded without engaging in any kind of negotiation,” he told reporters. “Having said that, we can now acknowledge … that this entity has made a financial request. We have not responded to this request.”
He did not provide details about the needs.
Carvalho told the Los Angeles Times on Friday that the district will not pay ransom demands or negotiate with the hackers.
“What I can tell you is that this requirement – any requirement – is ridiculous,” he told The Times. “But frankly, this level of demand is insulting. We’re not going to negotiate with that kind of entity.”
The hotline will open at 6:00 am on Monday
“This hotline will help those in our school community who may have questions or need additional support,” Carvalho said.
The phone number for the Incident Response Line is (855) 926-1129. Hours of operation are 6:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding major U.S. holidays.
The City News Service contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2022 KABC Television LLC. all rights reserved.