Boulder Office of Disaster Management's Twitter page hacked
Boulder's Office of Disaster Management's X -- formerly known as Twitter -- page was hacked Sunday, city and county officials confirmed.
The ODM is tasked with coordinating large-scale emergency responses and informing the public of any pending or active disaster situations from extreme weather to active shooters or other mass casualty events.
CBS News Colorado isn't posting screenshots or naming the group that appears to be responsible so as not to bring attention to them, but screenshots of posts made by the account were asking for a ransom payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for returning access to the account back to the ODM.
RELATED: Colorado Department of Higher Education hit by ransomware attack
The agency deactivated its account and it, along with law enforcement agencies in Boulder directed people to the ODM website for updates.
"We are evaluating the next steps to fully resolve this problem and thankful that the constant stream of posting activity on the site has ended. There will be more information coming soon and in the mean time be sure to go to Boulderodm.gov for information during a disaster. Also remember that this problem has not affected our ability to send out emergency alerts," the ODM wrote in a news release on its website.
It's just the latest in a string of similar attacks, often referred to as ransomware, in which a person or group gains access to a website or social media account and demands money from the owner to have it restored.
RELATED: Ransomware attacks hit Wheat Ridge, Fremont County: 'Everything Was Impacted'
In August, the Colorado Department of Higher Education was hit with one. Last year, a similar attack impacted Wheat Ridge and Fremont County. And in 2021, the University of Colorado had information leaked onto the dark web.
Twitter-related cyber attacks have increased on the site since Elon Musk took over the site, according to researchers at the cybersecurity vendor Proofpoint. Musk's handling of data privacy and security practices since he purchased the company is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC's concerns with Twitter began in 2011 but spiked in the weeks following Musk's takeover.
