Cybersecurity expert says finding culprits in MPS hack will be "very difficult, if not impossible"
MINNEAPOLIS -- More information is emerging about the massive cyber breach of Minneapolis Public Schools.
The school district has refused to pay $1 million in ransomware to the Medusa Media Team, cyber criminal group.
Private information from MPS has been posted on the dark web. The information contains Social Security numbers and other private data. The victims include not just MPS higher ups, but teachers and students.
This type of a major incident involving data from thousands of people is becoming increasingly common, as shown by these numbers from the state of Minnesota's IT department: Last year, Minnesota state government and state agencies reported more than 1,000 cyber security incidents. That includes 78 incidents at schools and universities, 111 in Minnesota counties and 39 in Minnesota cities.
The hackers are often foreign actors originating attacks on foreign soil.
Mark Lanterman is the chief technology officer at Computer Forensic Services and is an expert on cyber crime. He was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m.
"The hackers have posted this information on the dark web, and the technology behind the dark web was created by the U.S. Navy in an effort to anonymize the government's activity and usage of the internet," Lanterman said. "So it's essentially a cloak of invisibility, and because of that, it can make investigating these types of crimes very difficult, if not impossible."
Minneapolis Public Schools has been working with the FBI to try and get to the bottom of the massive breach. The information stolen goes back decades and includes payroll data and data on investigations, including assaults and civil rights investigations.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Joseph Dames every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.