RansomHub says it published Florida health department data | StateScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The hacking group RansomHub claims to have published 100 gigabytes of data stolen from the Florida Department of Health after it declined to pay a ransom.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/florida-health-department-data-ransomhub-data\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RansomHub says it published Florida health department data | StateScoop\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The hacking group RansomHub claims to have published 100 gigabytes of data stolen from the Florida Department of Health after it declined to pay a ransom.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/florida-health-department-data-ransomhub-data\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"StateScoop\"> <meta 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href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/01\/cropped-ss_favicon.png?w=180\">\n<meta name=\"msapplication-TileImage\" content=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/01\/cropped-ss_favicon.png?w=270\"> <\/head><body class=\"post-template-default single single-post postid-65421 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/florida-health-department-data-ransomhub-data\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"23.619565217391\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"29.206896551724\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The hacking group RansomHub claims to have published 100 gigabytes of data stolen from the Florida Department of Health after it declined to pay a ransom. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"folder icon\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data-2.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, 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class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"39.685782108946\"><body readability=\"79.92939481268\"><\/p>\n<p>The hacking group RansomHub this week claimed it exfiltrated and published 100 gigabytes of sensitive data from the Florida Department of Health because the department refused to meet its ransom demands.<\/p>\n<p>According to a July 1 post on X by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/H4ckManac\/status\/1808020268658340249\">HackManac<\/a>, a company that tracks cyberattacks, RansomHub threatened to release the stolen health department data in a post on the dark web unless the state paid an undisclosed amount of money by Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Florida, in compliance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/publications\/Ransomware%2520General%2520Security%2520Postcard%25206.23.2021_508c.pdf\">guidelines<\/a> from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has a policy of not paying ransomware demands, as payment does not guarantee an organization will regain access to its data or be able to resume normal operations.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the missed deadline, RansomHub published a link to the stolen data on its account with the message: \u201cThe Florida Department of Health is responsible for protecting the public health and safety of the residents and visitors to the state of Florida. It is a cabinet-level agency of the state government, headed by a state surgeon general who reports to the governor. The department has its headquarters in Tallahassee.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Florida Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no particular reason to doubt that RansomHub does have as least some of the data it claims to have,\u201d Brett Callow, threat analyst at the software company Emsisoft, told StateScoop by email. \u201cThe Department has acknowledged that it had a cybersecurity incident and RansomHub \u2013 a known and prolific bad actor \u2013 has claimed responsibility for that incident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ransomware attack and subsequent data leak was the latest in a strong of incidents to hit government agencies in recent months. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emsisoft.com\/en\/blog\/44987\/the-state-of-ransomware-in-the-u-s-report-and-statistics-2023\/\">Emsisoft<\/a>, 2,207 U.S. hospitals, schools and governments were affected by ransomware attacks last year.<\/p>\n<p>The Florida Department of Health, like most public health organizations, contains sensitive information on state residents, including medical records, Social Security numbers and health insurance information. The department is responsible for the state\u2019s 67 county health departments and licenses doctors, nurses and several other health-related professions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe US healthcare sector continue to be heavily targeted by for-profit cybercriminals, with up to 200 hospitals having been directly impacted by ransomware attacks, and scores more indirectly impacted by the attack on Change Healthcare,\u201d Callow wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s a problem that put people\u2019s personal information at risk and, worse, their lives at risk.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In February, a new state budget for the 2025 fiscal year, <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/24415878\/fl_local_grants.pdf\">obtained by StateScoop<\/a>, proposed reverting $40 million, part of <a href=\"https:\/\/digital.fl.gov\/cybergrants\/\">Florida\u2019s Local Government Cybersecurity Grant<\/a>, back into the state\u2019s general fund.<\/p>\n<p>Cyberattacks against state and local governments are prevalent in Florida, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/blackcat-ransomware-attack-florida-court\/\">ransomware attack<\/a> by the hacker group Black Cat on the state\u2019s court system last October and a <a href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/fort-lauderdale-florida-phishing-scam\/\">phishing attack<\/a> that scammed Fort Lauderdale for $1.2 million in September.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, cyberattacks have been hitting other state agencies. On Wednesday, the New Mexico public defender\u2019s office was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.krqe.com\/news\/new-mexico\/new-mexico-public-defenders-office-hit-with-cybersecurity-breach\/\">also hit with a ransomware attack<\/a> that compromised its data. And that same day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6CiYdw9yAo8\">the Alabama Department of Education announced<\/a> it had been the target of a cyberattack last month, in which hackers failed to fully access or lock its systems, but that some data was compromised.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.5630885122411\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Sophia Fox-Sowell\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Sophia Fox-Sowell<\/h4>\n<p> Sophia Fox-Sowell reports on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and government regulation for StateScoop. She was previously a multimedia producer for CNET, where her coverage focused on private sector innovation in food production, climate change and space through podcasts and video content. She earned her bachelor\u2019s in anthropology at Wagner College and master\u2019s in media innovation from Northeastern University. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Modernization<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Cybersecurity<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to StateScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/florida-health-department-data-ransomhub-data\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RansomHub says it published Florida health department data | StateScoop<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[282,1],"tags":[286,325],"class_list":["post-4345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cybercrime","category-uncategorized","tag-cybercrime","tag-uncategorized"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/cybercrime\/\" rel=\"category tag\">cybercrime<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","tag_info":"Uncategorized","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":4345,"date":"2024-07-05T12:29:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T17:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=80935"},"modified":"2024-07-05T12:29:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T17:29:04","slug":"ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/05\/ransomhub-says-it-published-florida-health-department-data\/","title":{"rendered":"RansomHub says it published Florida health department data"},"content":{"rendered":"