10 minute read
Chinese News at
Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/TNS file Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho speaks during a press conference at Edward R. Roybal Learning Center on Sept. 6 in Los Angeles.
Hackers release data after LA district refuses to pay ransom
By Howard Blume
LOS ANGELES TIMES
LOS ANGELES — Hackers released data from the Los Angeles school district on Saturday, a day after Superintendent Albert Carvalho said he would not negotiate with or pay a ransom to the criminal syndicate.
Some screenshots from the hack were reviewed by the Los Angeles Times and appear to show some Social Security numbers. But the full extent of the release remains unclear.
The release of data came two days earlier than the deadline set by the syndicate that calls itself Vice Society – and happened in apparent response to what it took as Carvalho's final answer regarding whether the district would pay the hackers to prevent the release of private information and also to receive decryption keys to unlock some district computer systems. "What I can tell you is that the demand – any demand – would be absurd," Carvalho told the Times on Friday. "But this level of demand was, quite frankly, insulting. And we're not about to enter into negotiations with that type of entity."
In a statement released later that day, he added: "Paying ransom never guarantees the full recovery of data, and Los Angeles Unified believes public dollars are better spent on our students rather than capitulating to a nefarious and illicit crime syndicate."
The extent of the data theft is now being evaluated by federal and local authorities.
Carvalho said on Friday that he believed confidential information of employees was not stolen. He was less certain about information related to students, which could include names, grades, course schedules, disciplinary records and disability status.
Whatever the case, he said, the district will provide assistance to anyone who is potentially harmed by the release of data, including by setting up an "incident response" line at (855) 926-1129. Its hours of operation are 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding major U.S. holidays.
Since the attack, which was discovered on Sept. 3, the nation's second-largest school district has worked closely with local law enforcement, the FBI and the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA.
CISA posted a warning to education institutions about Vice Society immediately after the LAUSD attack without directly confirming that the syndicate was responsible for it.
The syndicate's original Monday deadline was posted on the dark web site maintained by Vice Society, which had informally confirmed to at least three reporters that it was responsible for the hack.
On Friday, Carvalho did not contest media accounts identifying Vice Society. He continued his previous practice of not naming the amount that is being demanded.
The claim of responsibility became official with a posting on the dark web. A screenshot the Vice Society logo and its catchphrase "ransomware with love." The site lists as "partners" the entities that it claims to have victimized. These now include the L.A. Unified School District, which is listed along with the district logo. "The papers will be published by London time on Oct. 4, 2022, at 12 a.m.," the webpage stated. That deadline would fall eight hours earlier in Los Angeles when adjusted for the time change. A countdown clock ticked down the time.
Hackers this year have attacked at least 27 U.S. school districts and 28 colleges, according to cybersecurity expert Brett Callow, threat analyst for the digital security firm Emsisoft. At least 36 of those organizations had data stolen and released online, and at least two districts and one college paid the attackers, Callow said.
Callow was among the cybersecurity bloggers and professionals who confirmed Sunday morning that the data had been posted.
Vice Society alone has hit at least nine school districts and colleges or universities so far this year, per Callow's tally.
When the attack was discovered, district technicians quickly shut down all computer operations to limit the damage, and officials were able to open campuses as scheduled on the Tuesday after the holiday weekend. The shutdown and the hack combined to result in a week of significant disruptions as more than 600,000 users had to reset passwords and systems were gradually screened for breaches and restored.
During this rebooting, technicians found so-called tripwires left behind that could have resulted in more structural damage or the further theft of data. The restoration of district systems is ongoing, but there also was another element of the attack: the exfiltration of data.
The hackers claimed to have stolen 500 gigs of data.
The district also has set up a cybersecurity task force, and the school board has granted Carvalho emergency powers to take any related step he feels is necessary.
The internal systems most damaged were in the facilities division. Carvalho said it was necessary to create workarounds so that contractors could continue to be paid and repairs and construction could continue on schedule.
— Albert Carvalho Los Angeles Superintendent
Newsom
From Page A7 intentional, transparent effort to build a diverse and qualified pool of candidates for these positions,” but noted that the bill “is estimated to cost millions of dollars not accounted for in the budget.”
Newsom’s frugality comes after California has enjoyed years of record budget surpluses, leaving many asking: What gives?
H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of Finance, said that the administration has been signaling caution for months in its budget documents about risks to the state’s revenue stream, and the veto messages shouldn’t be a surprise.
The governor’s May budget revision noted uncertainty in the economic forecast, especially as the plummeting stock market and cooling housing market squeeze one of the Golden State’s largest sources of revenue: capital gains taxes.
The finance department’s latest revenue report said general fund revenues for the first two months of the fiscal year are $2 billion below the revenue forecast in the enacted budget. And the state ended the last fiscal year in June nearly $2.2 billion below forecast. That means the state is “roughly $4.2 billion below projections in our most recent revenue forecast,” Palmer said.
The overwhelming majority of the state’s discretionary surplus funds are committed to one-time measures such as boosting reserves, prepaying billions in state debt, making supplemental deposits into reserve funds and the $9.5 billion in inflation relief payments set to go out next week to 23 million Californians.
And although California has continued to add jobs, with an 11th month of increases, many have been lower-wage, while high-paying technology companies have seen recent layoffs and hiring freezes. Palmer said that has been reflected in lower withholding receipts from income taxes, where the top 1% pay account for nearly half the revenue.
“The likelihood of continued declines on the receipts side of the ledger means that we have to closely watch the expenditures side,” Palmer said.
Newsom’s nod to tighten spending as the economy wobbles may also be driven by his ambitions. Although the governor has insisted he’s not planning a run for president, he has been mentioned frequently as a future contender for the Democrats, especially with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris polling poorly.
The governor, who polls and last year’s failed recall suggest will easily be reelected, has helped feed those presidential rumors by spending campaign money on ads in Republican states blasting the GOP on abortion, guns and transgenders.
Schnur said an underwater budget would undercut Newsom’s appeal to swing-state voters along with a perception the state is awash in crime. Among the last bills Newsom signed Friday were a package aimed at tackling the retail smash-and-grab robberies that have made national headlines. He vetoed a bill Thursday that would have eliminated solitary confinement, something that might not play well with a tough-on-crime crowd.
Newsom also vetoed a bill that would have allowed drug injection sites in cities as a treatment approach, but signed bills to expand recycling and to protect people who seek abortions or transgender treatments in California from states where there are more restrictions.
San Bernardino residents worry about mudslides near mountains
TriBune ConTenT agenCy
For months, Oak Glen, California, resident Meg Grant emailed pleas to local officials: Residents needed help preparing for the next rainstorm.
In December, rainstorms brought mud, tree limbs and debris into their yards, Grant told San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe. Residents knew the risks of living in the mountains, Grant said, but the 2020 fire left them vulnerable to mudflow raging down Birch Creek, which runs through many of their properties.
The dreaded day arrived Sept. 12 when the remains of Tropical Storm Kay brought 2.4 inches of rain within an hour and produced an immense debris flow that damaged or destroyed 16 homes. Car-size boulders came crashing down in Forest Falls, a small mountain community north of Oak Glen. A 62-year-old Forest Falls resident died as the flood of rocks, sticks and mud overtook her home.
The seed of the disastrous mudslide – which overwhelmed a countyrun flood channel and buried some areas in 12 feet of mud – was planted two years ago when the El Dorado fire scorched 22,680 acres on Yucaipa Ridge, producing a burn scar that left the mountain bare and prone to rapid erosion. "They knew this was a problem," said Grant, who grew frustrated when the county said it could do little to help residents in fortifying their homes.
In the mountains, residents recognize the risks and rewards they trade for living in remote areas. For fresh mountain air and acres of wooded land, they face wildfires, floods and debris flows.
But some residents in the unincorporated communities of Oak Glen and Forest Falls feel especially vulnerable now. They are frustrated that San Bernardino County officials have told them the county is limited in how it can use public dollars to safeguard private land and residents. "It's not like I'm asking the county to come and dig a pool for me," said Brenda Ebrahim, who believes the county should create a catastrophic fund to help residents. "I'm asking for help to recover from a disaster not of my making."
Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS file (2021) An aerial view of oil spill cleanup crew members from New Jersey cleaning up the oil spill at Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach, Oct. 10, 2021.
Company responsible for oil spill will repair pipeline
TriBune ConTenT agenCy
LOS ANGELES — The Houston-based company operating the oil pipeline that ruptured off Huntington Beach last fall announced Saturday that the government has greenlighted its plans to repair the pipeline, raising the possibility it will be operational again early next year.
In a press release, Amplify Energy Corp. said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted it a permit to remove and replace damaged segments of the pipeline, a job that is estimated to take about a month.
The pipeline runs from a plant in Long Beach to the Elly platform in federal waters off Huntington Beach. At least 25,000 gallons of crude oil gushed from the broken pipe last October, forcing a weeklong closure of beaches along the Orange County coast in October and a monthslong shutdown of fisheries.
In August, Amplify Energy and two of its subsidiaries pleaded guilty to negligently discharging oil and agreed to pay nearly $13 million in criminal fines and cleanup fees.
Amplify also said it had reached a settlement with businesses and property owners claiming spill-related losses.
Amplify contends that the pipeline had been damaged by the anchors of container ships nine months before the spill, and that it had not been properly notified.
Last week, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in federal court, claiming the Biden administration was improperly allowing rigs in the oilfield off Huntington Beach to continue operating under outdated safety plans devised in the 1970s and 1980s. "It's time to get these rusty relics out of our ocean," Kristen Monsell, legal director of the Center's Oceans program, said in a press release, comparing the aging oil platforms to "ticking time bombs."
