Expert speaks out after City of Allen Park hit with ransomware attack

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Hackers are threatening the City of Allen Park, demanding officials pay up or face a public release of all the city's data.  

The ransomware threat by LockBit 3.0 was announced on the hacking group's website on the dark web. Officials in Allen Park have not commented publicly on the threat. The Allen Park Mayor's office has not returned calls for comment.

Sources tell CBS News Detroit they are aware of it and "everything is under control." 

It's not clear how much money the group is demanding, but the threat says the public release of data will take place at 10:34 a.m. on March 22 if the group's demands aren't met.  

Cyber Security Expert David Derigiotis with Embroker saw the threat and said it looks "very legitimate," although it would be hard to know for certain. 

"This is what these ransomware groups tend to do," he said. "They try to publicly shame and harass and really cause pressure for any victim organization to make a payment," Derigiotis said. 

Derigiotis said the group is believed to operate out of Eastern Europe. If LockBit 3.0 follows through with the threat to release data tomorrow, Derigiotis said it could leave city residents and workers open to identity theft.

"I think at this point, we should all assume that our information has been compromised," Derigiotis said. "There have been countless data breaches and countless ransomware attacks. We should absolutely assume that our information is public," he said. 

Derigiotis said that those concerned can ask for a credit freeze with all of the credit reporting bureaus so that new credit cannot be opened in their name. He said that closely monitoring credit card and bank statements are also a good idea.