U.S. Department of State offering $10M reward for information on Fulton ransomware attack suspect

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The U.S. Department of State is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the man they say is responsible for the Fulton County ransomware attack nearly a year ago.

Dmitry Khoroshev is suspected of being part of a major Russian-based ransomware syndicate called ‘Lockbit,’ according to officials. The group took responsibility, asking for several millions of dollars. Khoroshev has already been indicted.

Fulton County refused to pay and as far as we know, no information was released. County leaders said not only did the group never publish any sensitive data, the suspects did not access as much as they claimed.

Services were disrupted for weeks. In a conversation with CBS News, Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts said the county was being held hostage.

“Things you take for granted,” he said. “Going to the library to check out a book, couldn’t do it. Getting a marriage license. Checking on your taxes, couldn’t do it.”

These ransomware criminals hack an organization’s network, lock up the data, and demand a ransom to get it all back.

Attackers last year walked away with a record $1 billion, but the number of organizations that pay the ransom has fallen from over 80 percent to only about 30 percent today. The FBI encourages organizations not to pay the ransom advice Pitts and other Fulton County leaders heeded.

“It’s taxpayers’ money, and we certainly weren’t gonna play footloose and fancy-free with our taxpayer’s money,” Chairman Pitts told CBS News.

As for how the cyber criminals took control of the county’s data in the first place, it was one wrong click from an employee, county officials told Atlanta News First.

Since the breach, the county has invested millions to strengthen the security of its IT system.

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