San Francisco 49ers ransomware attack exposes 21,000

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KION-TV)- The San Francisco 49ers said nearly 21,000 people may have had their information exposed in a data breach.

Team officials said names and social security numbers were exposed during the attack, putting thousands at risk for identity theft, according to KTVU. They started notifying people affected by the ransomware attack in February.

The Associated Press said the ransomware gang BlackByte posted some stolen team documents on a dark website in a file marked "2020 Invoices." 

The gang didn't make ransom demands public or specify how much data it had stolen or encrypted.

Ransomware gangs, which hack targets and hold their data hostage through encryption, have caused widespread havoc in the last year with high-profile attacks on the world's largest companies and organizations.

Last month, federal authorities warned Bay Area companies of increasing ransomware cyberattacks known as Zeppelin, according to KTVU. The warning was aimed at all industries, specifically those dealing with COVID and monkeypox.

This article was written with help from KTVU.