Seattle Airport Hack Update: Hackers Demand $6M in Bitcoin for Stolen Files

The hackers behind last month’s cyber breach at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are now demanding a ransom of 100 Bitcoins, close to $6 million, for the compromised data.

However, what exactly was accessed and the nature thereof have not been determined.

Hackers Rhysida Ransomware Group Identified

Lance Lyttle, the airport’s aviation managing director, testified to a hearing with the US Senate’s Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Wednesday morning that the investigation into the cyberattack is ongoing. He confirmed Rhysida was identified as the ransomware group responsible for the attack.

In addition, the airport had identified Rhysida as the ransomware group responsible for the attack and the FBI was leading a criminal investigation, said Lance Lyttle, managing director of aviation for the port, where he spoke in front of a committee in the US Senate.

Lyttle stated that the attack seemed to have been contained by the airport, but the hackers were able to encrypt part of the data.

Oakland Airport Defies Hackers’ Ransomware, Refuses Bitcoin Payment

That same day, hackers published eight files they stole from Port systems on their dark web site, threatening to sell the data unless it was paid 100 Bitcoin for the information, said Lance Lyttle.

Lyttle did not detail what’s in the files, but said that the airport would reach out to anyone whose personal data may have been breached.

Port officials have said paying the ransom would be a bad use of taxpayer money. The airport has struggled to get back to normal since the cyberattack started on August 24. Also in August, the US government moved a total of 10,000 Bitcoins worth $600 million  to crypto exchange Coinbase Prime and many suggested that this might be for deposit purposes. However, attorney Scott Jhonsson has uncovered the truth stating that the US Marshal Service (USMS) is certainly selling the BTC as per the previous agreement with crypto exchange Coinbase.

While there was no significant disruption in terms of flights, ticketing, check-in kiosks and baggage handling were affected, even though the disruption took place just a week before the Labor Day holiday. Passengers on smaller airlines were required to use paper boarding passes.