‘Malicious’: hacker cracks Luas website
3,000 user records may be have been compromised
THE Luas website was targeted in a brazen cyber attack yesterday, by a hacker claiming they were holding the data of tram users to ransom.
Transdev, the company that runs the Luas, says 3,226 people who signed up to the Luas newsletter may have had their records compromised.
However, the company is insisting that financial data was not affected. Customers who visited the website yesterday morning were not greeted with the usual homepage, but instead saw a threatening message from hackers demanding that 1 Bitcoin, a unit of online currency worth €3,378, be transferred by Luas officials to a bank account.
The message warned that if the money was not paid within five days, the hackers would publish all data held by the site and send an email to customers.
The warning read: ‘You are hacked. Some time ago, I wrote that you have serious security holes. ‘You didn’t reply. ‘The next time someone talks to you, press the reply button.
‘You must pay 1 Bitcoin in 5 days. Otherwise I will publish all data and send emails to your users.’
Luas yesterday confirmed that the website had been compromised, but assured user that the site does not hold personal data.
The message was taken down later in the morning, but the website remained inactive last night.
In a statement released following the attack, the transport company apologised to its customers for any inconvenience caused, assuring service users that efforts were being made to solve the issue.
‘The Luas website was compromised this morning, and a malicious message was put on the home page,’ the company said. ‘The website has been taken down by the IT company who manage it, and their technicians are working on it.’
It warned that it may take the rest of the day to resolve the issue, and said customers would be updated on any changes to Luas services through Twitter, Facebook and AA Roadwatch.
In the wake of the attack, cyber security experts are urging businesses and the public to ensure their computers are protected against being hacked.
Cybersecurity firm, Smarttech 247 said yesterday that the hack matches a trend in cyber attacks that has recently been detected by experts.
‘Although it’s only three days into the new year, the Smarttech247 team have already seen a sharp rise in ransomware attacks,’ the company’s CEO, Ronan Murphy said.
‘These are primarily spreading via email where they appear to be a Microsoft document.
‘The ransomware will attack any server or computer which does not have adequate protection and this includes web servers that host websites and applications.’
Transport operators Luas yesterday warned customers through its Twitter page to not click on to its website.
In a statement last night, it confirmed that over 3,000 user records may have been compromised during the cyber-attack, but assured customers no financial information was accessed.
The company said the hacking was a professional attack, and when it was discovered, the website was taken offline and IT technicians began an investigation.
‘We have identified 3,226 user records at this point of the investigation which may have been compromised,’ the company said.
‘These are the records of where people signed up to a Luas Newsletter.’
The company is due to write to those affected at some stage today.
The company stated: ‘The site is being analysed to identify how the attack occurred and technicians are working to restore the service for the customer.
‘No financial information has been compromised in this attack.’
As the investigation into the attack is ongoing, there is no estimation as to the full damage done to the site.
A date or time has yet to be established for the full restoration of the site, but technicians were last night working on a temporary site.
Luas added: ‘Luas is operating in accordance with early detection and timely countermeasures to mitigate the impact.’
‘You must pay 1 Bitcoin in 5 days’