Columbus Data Breach Exposes 500,000 Residents' Personal Information

A ransomware attack by the Rhysida group has led to the leak of sensitive data from the City of Columbus, affecting over half the city's population.

The attack occurred in July and was attributed to the Rhysida ransomware group, which has targeted public-sector entities worldwide.
The leaked data includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, bank account details, and more, with 3.1 terabytes of information published online.
Security researcher Connor Goodwolf revealed that the data was unencrypted, contradicting city officials' claims that it was corrupted.
The City of Columbus has taken legal action against Goodwolf for accessing and sharing the stolen data, aiming to prevent further dissemination.
Columbus is offering two years of credit monitoring to affected residents and is reviewing plans to enhance its cybersecurity measures.