San Francisco's transportation system Municipal Transportation Agency or MUNI has been hacked last Friday thereby making the automatic services to be shut down. The hackers have violated the privacy terms of about 2,112 computers and made sure the traveling agencies stop running.
MUNI Hacking Details
The attackers have used the HDD Cryptor malware to hack transportation system MUNI. As a result, all the messages and notifications were encrypted instantly. "You Hacked, ALL Data Encrypted. Contact For Key(cryptom27@yandex.com)ID:681 ,Enter," this is the message the users are getting while they input traveling details. To ensure no further violation of the data stored in the transportation systems, the hackers have demanded a ransom amount worth 100 bitcoin that amounts to approximately $70,000.
Following the hacking of the transport system MUNI data, the authorities have put the ticketing services on the network on halt. However, the train services are still in service. The authorities have opened all the gates and made waive fares accessible to all riders. The travelers are also provided a note informing them about the scrapped fare.
MUNI Hacking Being Investigated
The investigation on the matter is in progress with city officials putting best efforts to find a remedy to the same. MUNI spokesperson told the BBC that no significant impact has been observed on the transit services or to the safety of the systems yet. He added that the customer's personal details have also not been affected after the hacking of the transportation system MUNI database. "The incident remains under investigation, so it wouldn't be appropriate to provide any additional details at this point," the spokesperson added.
The malware used to destroy the transportation system MUNI, according to The Register, did not limit itself to delivering encrypted notification. It also affected the administrative system, employee laptops, SQL databases, email and print servers, as well as payroll systems. This gives a clear picture how harmful the hacking could be for the agency and its customers.