The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles announced Tuesday it is experiencing an apparent cyberattack that has disrupted its systems.
In a statement, the agency described the situation as a “cyber event” and did not specify the nature of the attack or what data may have been compromised. HACLA, the city’s public housing authority, has a budget of more than $1 billion.
The ransomware group Lockbit claimed to have hacked the agency, according to TechCrunch. Screenshots posted online indicate that more than 15 terabytes of files were stolen, with a listed deadline of Jan. 12 for an apparent ransom.
Courtney Gladney of HACLA said the agency was working with “law enforcement and forensics to investigate the incident.” A statement from the agency said that HACLA was working to “confirm its impact to our systems, and to restore full functionality securely to our environment as soon as possible.”
