The Lazio region in Italy has suffered a RansomEXX ransomware attack that has disabled the region’s IT systems, including the COVID-19 vaccination registration portal.
Early Sunday morning, the Lazio region suffered a ransomware attack that encrypted every file in its data center and disrupted its IT network.
“On the night between Saturday and Sunday the Regione Lazio suffered a first cyber attack of criminal matrix. We don’t know who is responsible and their goals,” Nicola Zingaretti, the President of the Lazio region, said in a statement on Facebook.
“The attack blocked almost every file in the data center. The vaccination campaign continues as normal for all those who have booked. Vaccine bookings will open for now suspended in the next few days. The system is currently shut down to allow internal verification and to avoid the spread of the virus introduced with the attack.”
While ransomware gangs are known to steal data during an attack as leverage in extortion attempts, the region states that health, financial, and budget data are safe.
The outage has also affected the Salute Lazio health portal used to register for COVID-19 vaccines.