Texas water utility claimed by ransom gang

Last updated: 29 November 2023

Damien Black
Senior Journalist

water treatment control system — Image by Borkin Vadim | Shutterstock

A major water utility supplier to nearly two million Texas residents has been claimed as a victim by the ransomware gang Daixin.

The gang posted the leak claim on its website on the dark web in which it claimed to have 33,844 files belonging to North Texas Municipal Water in its possession, promising a “full leak” soon.

The leak post was shared on Twitter on November 28th by cyber watchdog Brett Callow – but one or two unanswered questions remain.

Though the cyberattack is being reported by other media, Cybernews found that the North Texas utility company had not been listed as disclosing an attack on the Texas Attorney General’s bulletin board – despite that state imposing strict data breach reporting requirements on any attacks that affect more than 250 of its residents.

Moreover, Daixin’s own leak site describes it as being focused on healthcare data – including patient medical records, Social Security numbers, and treatment information.

Cybersecurity firm BlackBerry appears to agree with this self-assessment, describing Daixin as a “financially motivated ransomware group” in operation since 2022 that has predominantly targeted the healthcare sector in the US.

The recent attack on North Texas Water suggests that the gang, perhaps emboldened by past successes against the likes of AirAsia Group and B&G Foods, is more than happy to continue branching out its nefarious operations to other industries.

Cybernews reached out to the Texas Attorney General for clarification before going to press and will update as and when a response is received.