COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two Columbus-based law firms filed an amended complaint expanding the class action lawsuit against the city as the repercussions of a ransomware attack continue to unfold.
Cooper Elliott and Meyer Wilson filed a class action lawsuit against the city earlier this month on behalf of two police officers, alleging that the city failed to protect sensitive data following the cyberattack in July. Sources told 10TV’s Lacey Crisp that the bank accounts of two Columbus police officers were hacked.
A foreign cyber threat actor attempted to disrupt the city’s IT infrastructure to deploy ransomware and solicit a nearly $2 million ransom payment from the city. The hacker group Rhysida claimed responsibility for the cyberattack.
Cybersecurity experts say hackers leaked city data on the dark web. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said that the data taken during the cybersecurity attack was either encrypted or corrupted making the files “totally unusable.” A cybersecurity expert told 10TV that they were able to download servers from the city.
Other experts say that the personal data of thousands of private citizens was also leaked on the dark web.
When the lawsuit was first filed, the plaintiffs included city employees affected by the data breach. The amended complaint now includes any resident who is affected.
“In today’s digital age, data equals dollars. But this breach is about more than money — it’s about people’s lives and identifies being at risk. The City’s failure to secure sensitive data has put thousands in jeopardy, making this breach a serious threat to personal safety and financial stability,” the law firms said in a statement.
The City of Columbus announced on Friday that it is offering free Experian credit monitoring to all residents and those impacted by the cyberattack.
All Columbus residents and non-residents whose personal information was shared with the city or municipal court can sign up for two years of free Experian monitoring, which includes $1 million of protection against fraud and identity theft.
“While this criminal attack on our city’s IT infrastructure is a complex and rapidly changing situation, we will continue to provide information as quickly and as transparently as possible as this investigation continues. Our understanding of this situation has evolved by the hour, and as such, we will continue to report only what our cybersecurity experts and IT team are able to verify without undermining this active criminal investigation," Ginther said.
Residents can sign up at columbus.gov/cyber or call 1-833-918-5161 with the code B129833 by Nov. 29.