Internal systems of the Texas city of Fort Worth were breached as a result of a cyberattack, for which a leftist group by the name of SiegedSec apparently claimed responsibility. The leftist hacking group has apparently targeted Fort Worth because of strict Texas laws that forbid the mutilation of minors in the guise of “gender-affirming care.” The gang has previously hacked the government networks of pro-life states.
According to WFAA, the City of Fort Worth’s internal systems were allegedly infiltrated as a result of Texas state legislation prohibiting the practice of child sex change. On June 23, hackers infiltrated the city’s computer network and took information that was not deemed important.
The city’s chief tech officer, Kevin Gunn, said that “cybercriminals hacked an internal database that belongs to the city and collected data that was ‘not confidential in nature’ — information which could possibly have been acquired legally by means of Public Information Act requests.” He asserted that the hackers’ goal was to bring shame to the city as well as make a political statement.
The hack was probably carried out by SiegedSec, a group that has previously targeted state governments that do not support abortion rights. The gang stated that after attacking pro-life organizations in 2022, they had “exfiltrated a number of gigabytes of confidential data, particularly employee personal identification information off state government servers,” and that “THE ATTACKS SHALL CONTINUE!”
The organization recently announced that “it will send a message to the US government via a post on the messaging app Telegram. Texas has been chosen as our target since it is one of the largest states that prohibits care that is gender-affirming.”
They “easily hijacked” the city’s administrative account, according to SiegedSec, who characterized themselves as “gay furry hackers,” and leaked over 180 terabytes of data. The organization further asserted that it should not worry about the FBI’s replies because they were “behind 7 proxies.”
“Photographs, work invoices, spreadsheets, PDF documents, emails between staff members, and other material pertaining to work orders were among the information types that were compromised,” according to Gunn. Additionally, he stated that there was “no evidence that any additional systems had been accessed, nor any additional evidence that confidential information, like social security or financial records, having been accessed or released.”
The city is currently working with law enforcement and forensic experts to look into the occurrence. Gunn continued, “We have mandated that all users reset their login information, and we are also continuing to evaluate this volume of material to ensure that we completely comprehend both the scope and complexity of this issue.”