The Ministry of Justice was the victim of a ransomware cyberattack this Thursday, January 27, at the start of the afternoon. On the Lockbit 2.0 site, a count indicates that the ministry data stolen during the attack will be publicly released on February 10, 2021.
Lockbit 2.0 Ransomware Group Announces Hacking of the French Ministry of Justice @justice_gouv
He threatens to publish the documents within two weeks (no details on their nature). pic.twitter.com/bUmj7XofMC
— Marc Renfer (@marcrenfer) January 27, 2022
Contacted by Century Digital, the ministry confirmed the cyberattack. He says he has ” acknowledged the alert “. At this stage, information such as the extent of the damage or the amount of the ransom demanded have not been specified.
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In worst-case scenarios, hackers managed to gain access to the Justice Department’s most sensitive information. On Twitter, the Defend Intelligence account notes that they could have access to criminal records, legal aid, complaints… Note that the day before, January 26, the Court of Auditors pointed out the shortcomings of the ministry in terms of cybersecurity in a report broken down by public actors.
So there it gets complicated. The worst thing that could happen would be confidential user information. In short, imagine the criminal records, the follow-ups, the complaints of each person publicly accessible….. DISASTER!!! ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/ShxdF8Sl3w
—Defend Intelligence (@DFintelligence) January 27, 2022
Lockbit is the name of a ransomware rented by its creators to allow cybercriminals to seize it to carry out attacks. It appeared in 2019 and has evolved ever since. It allows in particular to recover the data of its victims, in addition to encrypting them.
Interviewed in July 2021 by specialist journalist Damien Bancal, founder of the site Zatazthe hacker behind Lockbit refers to it as best performing ransomware on the market.
The French company Thales was a victim of this this month. Probably not having paid the demanded sum, documents were published on the Lockbit site on January 17. The documents did not contain personal information, but development tools, source codes… Thales minimized the scope of the attack.
The threat to the ministry is to be taken seriously. It was indicated to Century Digital that the ministry immediately organized to carry out the necessary checks, in conjunction with the competent services in this area “.