Hackers are demanding $6 million in Bitcoin from the operator of the US Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in exchange for documents they stole in a cyberattack last month.
The Port of Seattle, which owns and operates the airport, has decided not to pay the ransom, according to an airport official.
The airport previously identified the attack as being linked to a ransomware gang called Rhysida, and the FBI is now conducting a criminal investigation, according to Lance Lyttle, the airport's director of aviation operations.
Lyttle said in a meeting with a US Senate committee that the airport appeared to have stopped the attack, but the hackers were still able to encrypt some data.
“On Monday, they posted copies of eight files stolen from the port’s systems on the Dark Web and are asking for 100 Bitcoins to buy the data.”
He did not disclose details of the documents that were stolen, but confirmed that the airport would contact any individuals whose information may have been compromised.
Port officials stressed that paying ransoms is not an efficient use of taxpayer money.
The airport is still recovering from the attack, which began on August 24, during a busy time just a week before the Labor Day holiday. While flights are still operating, the attack disrupted processes such as ticketing, check-in kiosks and baggage handling. Passengers on smaller airlines are forced to use paper boarding passes instead of electronic ones.
Notably, the Mayor of Columbus, Ohio, also said last month that Rhysida was behind the data breach of the city's systems, and asserted that the city had never received a ransom demand .
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According to USnews
