Hackers post residents' data stolen in Suffolk cyberattack

Documents published by a group taking responsibility for the ransomware attack on Suffolk County government include speeding tickets, contracts with county vendors, and a handwritten marriage license from 1908, according to a Newsday review of the materials.

Such documents, which in some cases show the names, addresses and dates of birth of county residents, could contain increasingly sensitive information as hackers press their demands, one cybersecurity expert said.

Steve Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures in Northport, which provides data and research to the information technology industry, said ransomware hackers sometimes will start by leaking less sensitive data in what they consider to be a show of good faith to open ransom negotiations.

“They’re putting data out to try to provide evidence that we have your data, and we're willing to put your data out, but without putting out anything that would be too compromising to scare the county,” Morgan told Newsday Monday.

Morgan said hackers could continue to leak increasingly sensitive information to ramp up pressure on the county.

“The worst of what they have is the last that would get published,” Morgan said.

Suffolk County took down its web-based applications and websites on Sept. 8 following a cyberattack on county computer systems.

On Friday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced cybercriminals had taken credit for a hack on county government.

Bellone said county officials were working to protect sensitive information.

County officials referred to postings on the "dark web" — an anonymized portion of the internet where criminal activity can occur — attributing the attack to the BlackCat or ALPHV strain of ransomware.

County officials have not said whether hackers have made a ransom demand, and have offered no timeline for when county operations could be back online.

An updated posting Monday said the hackers were seeking an unspecified "small reward."

County officials did not respond immediately for comment last night.

Earlier Monday, Marykate Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for Bellone, said county officials were continuing to assess the attack.

In their post on the dark web on Sept. 15, hackers said they had "extracted" 4 TB of county files including court and sheriff's office records.

"We also have huge databases of Suffolk County citizens extracted from the clerk.county.suf. domain in the county administration," the post said.

One function of the clerk's office is land recording.

Fred Giachetti, a Huntington, real estate attorney, told Newsday real estate deals in which title searches have been completed have been able to proceed during the county computer shutdown.

But Giachetti said clients have expressed concern their locked-in interest rates will expire before title searches can resume.

Among the county documents released by the hackers is an invoice for expert testimony provided by a company in a criminal trial in Suffolk in 2019.

Another posted document shows a form attorney Joe Carbone faxed to the county Traffic and Parking Violations Agency requesting conferences for clients.

In an interview Monday, Carbone, who has offices in Hauppauge and Farmingdale, noted the document includes personal information that could expose his clients to identity theft.

“It's very troubling,” Carbone told Newsday. “It could be catastrophic to some people. Your driver's ID number, your date of birth — those are not things that are like readily accessible to the public.”

The marriage certificate for an Eastport couple was dated Aug. 18, 1908, and bore the seal of a clerk in Southampton.

Also Monday, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison announced the New York Police Department will provide five staffers per shift to help in the county’s 911 call center.

Emergency operators are handwriting information from 911 calls that then is hand-delivered to dispatchers elsewhere in the building, Harrison said at a news conference.

“While we have not had any issues remaining full-staffed in our call center, our goal is to remain prepared for anything that could come our way,” Harrison said.

Harrison also said the state Department of Homeland Security will provide the Police Department with technology for additional firewall protection, enabling it to bring its computer aided dispatch (CAD) system back online,

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.