MILWAUKEE—A company that sells smart parking meters and technology used by parking-enforcement agencies in cities around the world has been the victim of a ransomware attack that exposed some of the company’s internal files on the hackers’ website.
CivicSmart, which sells parking meters capable of processing mobile payments, hardware and software used in enforcing parking rules and mobile apps used by motorists and government employees alike, was hit with a form of ransomware known as Sodinokibi or REvil, StateScoop reported.
Messages posted to a website on which the hackers name their victims and leak stolen files in an attempt to elicit ransom payments suggest that CivicSmart paid an unspecified amount to have its files removed from the website, StateScoop added.
The attack was first noticed in March by the Israeli security firm Under the Breach, but otherwise went undisclosed. A screenshot of the hackers’ site — titled “Happy Blog” — suggested they were preparing to publish as much as 159 gigabytes of data taken from CivicSmart. A text file shared with StateScoop revealing the names of stolen file folders indicates the data may include employee records, contracts with cities and parking-garage vendors, bank statements and credit card numbers of people who paid to park using CivicSmart’s products.
Ransom Paid
The hackers’ page for CivicSmart was later updated to indicate the company had paid the ransom and the stolen files were taken down, StateScoop said.
Along with the hardware and software it provides to parking authorities, CivicSmart also integrates its systems with popular mobile apps that drivers use to feed the meter, including Parking Panda and ParkMobile, StateScoop noted.
While CivicSmart has apparently paid the ransom, in previous CUToday.info reports security experts remind that paying the ransom does not guarantee criminals will not leverage the stolen data again.