FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A cybercrime group who claimed to have been holding sensitive information from Fulton County hostage for $1.2 billion has had its website services disrupted, National Crime Agency-- an international agency in the United Kingdom confirmed Monday.
The National Crime Agency UK said that LockBit 3.0's services have been disrupted as a result of international law enforcement action. It is an ongoing and developing operation. The agency said more details will be provided on Tuesday.
This past Friday was the deadline cyber criminals set -- either they would be paid, or they would release the information. 11Alive has followed up with county officials to find out if a ransom attack was paid or if security issues have been fixed.
In general, Fulton County officials have been working to bring back online services that were knocked out due to widespread outages from the cybersecurity incident that was announced toward the end of January.
Previous reporting by 11Alive said cybersecurity experts who have seen some of the data leaked online said it goes beyond financial information or social security numbers. They said it includes sensitive health information for residents in the county who have cancer or who are living with HIV.
"This is one of the best ransom groups in the world," cybersecurity expert Patrick Kelley with Léargas Security previously said about Lockbit 3.0.
County officials said in a press conference when the incident was first announced that they were not aware of any transfer of sensitive information.
"We at Fulton County take cybersecurity seriously, and we place a high priority on the protection of sensitive information -- that's personal, sensitive information," Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said. "At this time, we are not aware of any transfer of sensitive information about citizens or employees."
Officials did say last week that the incident stemmed from a ransomware attack motivated by financial gain.
Before services were disrupted for the cybercrime group, Kelley and another cybersecurity expert said Fulton County was no longer listed in LockBit 3.0's portal.
"If you agree on time or making movement, they'll remove you from the portal. But I have never seen LockBit3.0 remove anyone from the portal unless they have paid," Kelley said.
11Alive will provide more information about this incident and law enforcement's operation when it is received.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
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