ATF Declares Major Incident After Ransomware Gang Claims Hack
The U.S. ATF has declared a major incident following a cyberattack on a standalone system, with the Qilin ransomware gang claiming responsibility without providing evidence.
TechCrunch has seen a claim of responsibility from the Qilin ransomware gang on its leak site, but the group did not provide evidence such as a sample of leaked data. Qilin operates a “ransomware-as-a-service” model, leasing its hacking tools to criminal affiliates for a share of profits. The gang has previously listed media company Lee Enterprises and U.K. pathology lab Synnovis as victims.
Under federal law, “major incidents” include significant cyber incidents likely to cause demonstrable harm to U.S. national security or broader interests. Agencies must disclose such incidents to Congress within a week of discovery. The ATF joins several government agencies that have declared major incidents in recent years, including a 2023 ransomware attack on a U.S. Marshals Service system and a breach of an FBI system earlier this year that exposed phone numbers of surveillance targets.