US Local Government Pays $1 Million in Bitcoin to Settle Data Extortion

US local governments are frequent targets of ransomware groups because of their limited budgets and cybersecurity staffing. Threat-intelligence organization Ransom-ISAC said Kairos uses a data-extortion model that steals information without encrypting it, relying instead on threats to expose sensitive material. The tactic shows that a data breach alone can be enough to paralyze decision-making at a public agency.

A new Ransom-ISAC report said Kairos stole about 2TB of data from an unnamed US local government and forced the agency to pay a Bitcoin ransom worth $1 million. The report did not disclose the exact dates of the intrusion, payment or incident disclosure, nor did it specify the type of data stolen or the amount of Bitcoin paid.