GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The battle between a group of hackers and a Michigan tribe is far from over, even as the tribe prepares to reopen its chain of casinos after an 18-day closure.
RansomHub has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack and sent a letter to the Sault Tribe Guardian on February 16 to provide their “side of the events.”
The hacker group stated that it has made “multiple attempts” to contact the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and that reports of a $5 million ransom demand are false.
“They have received detailed instructions via phone voicemails, corporate and personal emails, and internal network messages,” RansomHub stated in its letter.
“Despite these numerous efforts, no representative of the Sault Tribe has initiated communication with us.” As a result, the reported $5 million ransom figure is entirely speculative, as no negotiations have occurred.
The attack was discovered on February 9, prompting the tribe to immediately shut down the Kewadin Casinos. The Sault Ste. Marie location is set to open on Wednesday. The St. Ignace casino will open at noon on Friday. The other three locations, Manistique, Christmas, and Hessel, will open at noon on March 3.
RansomHub claims to have more than 100 gigabytes of confidential data. Tribal Chairman Austin Lowes stated that the tribe is still investigating the extent to which private data was stolen, but he did confirm that his personal information and the private data of his family members were compromised.
“The financial situation of the tribe is sufficient to cover the expenses associated with this cyberattack,” a letter from RansomHub stated. “The tribe’s failure to act raises serious questions about its leaderships priorities and intentions regarding this matter.”
Lowes has made no mention of the hackers’ demands or whether the two parties have discussed a possible agreement.
The ransomware targeted the tribe’s computer networks and internal phone systems. In addition to closing the tribe’s five casinos, it severely limited all tribal services, including health centers.
Ransomware is a type of malicious hardware that prevents users from accessing computer files, systems, or networks and “demands a ransom” in exchange for access.
According to the FBI, there are several ways to unknowingly download ransomware onto a computer, including opening an email attachment, clicking a pop-up ad, or visiting a website with embedded malware.
