US Marshals Service attacked by ransomware targeting sensitive law enforcement information

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DOJ seizes Hive ransomware gang website

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced FBI and Department of Justice action against the Hive ransomware gang, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023.

The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed Tuesday it had been targeted by a ransomware attack over a week ago, compromising sensitive information including data on fugitives.

"The affected system contains law enforcement sensitive information, including returns from legal process, administrative information and personally identifiable information pertaining to subjects of USMS investigations, third parties and certain USMS employees," USMS spokesman Drew J. Wade announced in a statement.

Photo graphic of a computer with a blue atlas on the screen and a lock. (Fox News)

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He also said the USMS discovered the incident, described as "a ransomware and data exfiltration event affecting a stand-alone USMS system," on Feb. 17.

Wade said the USMS took the system off the network after the discovery as the Justice Department launched a forensic investigation.

Although the USMS operates the federal Witness Protection Program, a senior law enforcement official told The New York Times hackers did not breach that program's database.

Hacker attacking internet (iStock)

Wade did not clarify who may have conducted the attack, or exactly how much information may have been taken. The U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately respond to questions from Fox News Digital about the attack.

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Ransomware is typically a type of malicious software deployed onto a computer system that blocks access or threatens to publish personal or confidential information until a sum of money is paid.

Earlier this month, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare in northern Florida was forced to take its information technology systems offline after it was hit bay an apparent ransomware attack.

The attack forced some emergency room patients to be diverted to other hospitals, though Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare was still accepting patients who were expecting babies.

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On Feb. 7, a cyberattack at the Pipefitters Local 537 in Boston was discovered. After the discovery, the union retained a cybersecurity forensic investigator who learned the cyberattack on the union’s health fund resulted in the loss of $6.4 million. It did not appear that personal information of the union’s members was stolen or compromised, officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.