An international cybercrime group is claiming responsibility for hacking the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and holding its tech system for ransom.
Hackers breached the office’s system about three weeks ago, according to a source close to the sheriff’s office, and Louisiana and New Orleans cybersecurity specialists have been in the city trying to resolve the problem.
According to screenshots from the group’s post, Qilin hackers have obtained contracts, inmate intake documents and expense information. The information posted so far doesn’t appear to be sensitive, and the OSPO stresses that no jail security operations have been impacted.
The sheriff’s office says the attack has affected its “DocketMaster” system, which manages inmate transfers to and from jail for court appearances and manages inmate releases on bail.
“I have two sons, four and six (years old). They miss their dad,” she said. “I did everything on my end to ensure that he comes home, so I feel like once everything is paid, everything is done, it shouldn’t be no hold up.”
OPSO officials say they’re using a manual workaround of the DocketMaster system outage.
“Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure continuity of service, OPSO has developed a temporary workaround,” a spokesperson wrote in a news release Monday. “Anyone needing information normally accessed through DocketMaster should call Jail Communications at (504) 202-9386 for assistance.”
The source close to the sheriff’s office said the attack stems from malware it got from another law enforcement agency via email.
The FBI warned of increasing malware attacks in March after a media company was attacked in a similar fashion.
According to a cybersecurity firm called Recorded Future — cyberattacks exposing vulnerabilities are up 16% this year over last and the majority involve malware. And an FBI report says about 5.5% of ransomware incidents in 2023 involved government infrastructure.
