Ada County reports alert system cyberattack. Residents’ information is at risk
The emergency alert system used by Ada County and other communities across the country suffered a recent cyberattack, putting people’s information at risk.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office uses the CodeRed system to notify people of emergencies in their area, including wildfires, severe weather and police activity.
“Crisis24, the operator of CodeRED, confirmed that information connected to Ada County CodeRED accounts was taken from one of their older systems via cyberattack,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post on Wednesday night.
Those who have signed up for the alert system could have had personal data stolen, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and the passwords people used when creating their CodeRED profiles, according to the post.
Crisis24 urged those who used their CodeRED password for other accounts to change those passwords as soon as possible. People with additional questions and concerns can contact the company’s support team at crsupport@crisis24.com. Lauren Montague, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said she didn’t have information on cyberattack culprits. Crisis24 said an “organized cybercriminal group” committed the attack, but did not respond to the Idaho Statesman’s questions.
INC Ransomware took responsibility and posted evidence online that it breached the alert systems on Nov. 1 and obtained encrypted files on Nov. 10, according to cybersecurity news outlet BleepingComputer. The INC group also alleged that Crisis24 had offered up to $150,000 as ransom for the data, but INC rejected that offer, according to antivirus company Malwarebytes.
The Sheriff’s Office said it was “frustrated” by the situation.
“We know how important CodeRED is to our community, and we’re keeping a close eye on this situation,” the agency said in a public statement. “Our team is working closely with Crisis24 to ensure stronger safeguards and long-term protections are put in place so something like this does not happen again.”
