Indiana school refutes dark web claims it was hacked by Russia-linked cybercrime syndicate

Edgewood schools are refuting dark web-based claims their computer systems were hacked by the same Russia-linked cybercrime syndicate that shut down Monroe County's offices and courts for a week in early July.

“Based on our findings to date, we are confident that the claims by the third-party bad actor are false,” the Richland Bean-Blossom Community School Corp. said in a news release Monday.

At least two local news websites had reported the corporation may have been hacked based on information on the dark web, a part of the Internet that requires specific software for access and which is often used by cybercriminals.

“Although our investigation remains ongoing, currently, there is no evidence to indicate that our network was accessed without authorization, and our operations remain normal,” the school corporation said.

That stands in stark contrast to a weeklong shutdown of Monroe County offices, including courts, the week of July 2.

County officials initially said the county’s computers were down because of a “technological event,” but said a week later the county had been breached by BlackSuit, a Russia-linked cybercrime syndicate which has been a key focus of ransomware attack advisories by the federal cybersecurity agency.

Hacked:Russia-linked cybercrime syndicate shuts down Indiana county for a week

R-BB said its cybersecurity software “has not identified any previous or ongoing suspicious activity that would suggest unauthorized access or a compromise of our network.”

“A preliminary review of the data that the third-party actor claimed to have taken from our network appears to belong to another organization and does not appear to belong to RBB or any of RBB’s affiliates,” the school corporation said.

R-BB said it became aware of the allegations on July 1 and investigated the claims with information technology staff and third-party computer specialists.

The corporation also said there is no evidence that its systems were compromised by any form of cyberattack and the corporation did not pay a ransom.

“RBB has reported this matter to federal law enforcement and is cooperating with its investigation,” the school corporation said.

The state’s Cyber Incident Reporting Law requires that government agencies, including schools, cities and libraries, report cybersecurity incidents within 48 hours to the Indiana Office of Technology. That office did not return a voicemail on Monday.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.