CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Rumpke is investigating a cyber attack incident that occurred on Friday.

According to Halcyon, a website that reports on ransomware attacks, Hunters International carried out the ransomware attack.

When Rumpke confirmed this report, they said they were aware of a cyber security incident and were working with forensic experts to investigate.

The report claims the group stole 3.3 terabytes of data.

Ransomware can attack in two ways: it can encrypt company data, making it unusable, or it can steal sensitive information by threatening to make it public.

FOX19 NOW’s tech expert Dave Hatter says ransomware poses a serious threat to businesses by locking them out of their computer systems or sensitive information and demanding a ransom for access.

“The longer you can run the ransomware, the more systems it can impact, the more likely you are to want to pay,” explains Hatter.

Hatter says a group will demand money to undo the encryption, and if the company refuses, they’ll start leaking information.

“These people are pretty despicable. There have been numerous instances where something like a school district or a hospital will be hit. They won’t pay because they can restore their systems and the group will start releasing information about children’s mental health,” Hatter said.

Hatter points out that such incidents remind the public to take precautions for their own safety.

“If you don’t have good backups and you can’t restore your data, you may not be able to survive such an attack,” Hatter said.

FOX19 NOW followed up Tuesday morning and Rumpke says there is no update; they still believe the public’s information is safe.

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