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On February 8, Portugal’s Águas e Energia do Porto reported being hit with a cyberattack from ransomware actors that threatened to publish the stolen data if the water utility company failed to pay the ransom demands until March 7.
Based on reports, the ransomware group that attacked the water utility was LockBit, after the group added Águas e Energia do Porto to their list of victims on its leak site last February 18.
Serving about half a million residents, the Portuguese water utility company assured that its public water supply and sanitation were unaffected by the incident.
A statement published by Águas e Energia do Porto on their official website said that some customer services were experiencing constraints due to the cyberattack. In-person service desks have also been limited, thus urging the public to refer to raising service tickets online in the meantime.
The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center and the Judiciary Police have been working with the company in investigating the incident.
In related news, last December, the LockBit ransomware gang also hacked into the systems of Port of Lisbon and encrypted critical files. Port of Lisbon is one of Portugal’s most utilised ports across the Atlantic, Africa, and Europe.
Some of the stolen files from the Port of Lisbon included financial reports, copies of contracts, cargo information, crew details, customer PIIs, and port documents.
Portugal has also been a target of cyberattacks over the past years, including an attack on one of its largest telco firms, a television network, and numerous financial institutions.
Threat actors have also been eyeing many of Portugal’s water utility companies due to the amount of critical data and customer information these establishments hold, which benefits their chance to demand higher ransoms.
There are no additional comments yet from Águas e Energia do Porto, but customers are reminded to stay vigilant as the threat of their data being leaked online is still possible.
