Police officers sue city after cyberattack exposes their banking and personal information

You've probably heard about the ransomware attack affecting the City of Columbus and its employees (if not, here's the summary: A foreign cyber threat hacked into the City of Columbus database and stole 6.5 terabytes of databases, internal logins, employee passwords, access to city video cameras, and even emergency services data, then offered it all for sale on the dark web).

Now the city of Columbus is facing a class action lawsuit related to its handling of the ransomware attack.

A deputy police chief told officers in a released statement that the city of Columbus believes that city data was “exploited” by the foreign cyberattack, and nearly a dozen police officers expressed concern that their personal banking and credit card information was compromised. Police Chief LaShanna Potts advised police to change their passwords and codes on their personal and work devices.

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Two Columbus police officers, John Does No. 1 and No. 2, have filed a class action lawsuit against the city, claiming their personal and bank account information was stolen and demanding damages from the city.

The lawsuit states that an undercover police officer feared that his identity as a police officer would be exposed, jeopardizing the criminal investigation. And his life.

The suit also states that an official was notified by both his bank and his credit card provider that his Social Security number had been compromised and found on the dark web. The suit alleges that the city “lost control of this data when cybercriminals breached their inadequately protected computer systems in a data breach.”

Attorneys for John Does #1 and #2 are seeking a jury trial, accusing the City of Columbus of negligence or recklessness, negligence per se, breach of an implied contract, invasion of privacy, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of the due process rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for the undercover police officer.

You can get a more detailed insight into the complaint here.

This is not part of the court case, but it is worth noting that it was recently revealed that not only city employees were at risk of data theft, but also civilians who were in city court or even just visiting city hall, including thousands of people from cases involving juveniles.

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