Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles confirms LockBit ransomware attack

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) has confirmed that it is investigating a cybersecurity incident. This acknowledgment came only after the LockBit ransomware gang claimed responsibility for the cyberattack on HACLA.

The LockBit ransomware gang has been very active lately, with the group and its affiliates launching attacks against the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and the Port of Lisbon in Portugal. Both attacks occurred in December.

LockBit added the HACLA as a confirmed target to their dark web leak site on December 31. HACLA provides affordable housing to more than 19,000 low-income families across Los Angeles, California.

TechCrunch confirms that they have seen the leak, and LockBit has stolen more than 15 terabytes of data from the housing agency.

A spokesperson for HACLA confirmed to TechCrunch that a “cyber event” that resulted in “disruption” to the agency’s system occurred, but declined to provide specifics.

Interestingly, despite the confirmation by HACLA to TechCrunch, there is no public acknowledgment on HACLA’s website or social media channels regarding the incident, per TechCrunch.

Los Angeles a familiar ransomware target

Los Angeles has suffered multiple headline-worthy ransomware attacks within the last year. The Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second-largest school district in the country, suffered a ransomware attack by a Russian-speaking Vice Society ransomware group.

Infamously, the LA Unified School District declined to pay the ransom and taunted the ransomware group. The group ultimately leaked the data which contained personally-identifiable information about students and faculty, medical conditions, and grades.

The school district was forced to create a hotline to respond to the incident after public outcry.