Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (PEN4762247111825)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) breach identified under incident ID PEN4762247111825.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)'s information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/penndot, the number of followers: 23880, the industry type: Truck Transportation and the number of employees: 3592 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 759 and after the incident was 656 with a difference of -103 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and their customers.

On 12 August 2024, Lycoming County Department of Public Safety disclosed ransomware issues under the banner "Lycoming County Department of Public Safety Ransomware Incident".

Lycoming County detected ransomware on its computer network on August 12.

The disruption is felt across the environment, and exposing potential driver’s license numbers.

In response, teams activated the incident response plan, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like network secured and ransomware caught early by existing protections, and began remediation that includes additional steps taken to prevent recurrence, and stakeholders are being briefed through offered written notice and complementary monitoring service to potentially affected individuals.

The case underscores how ongoing (source of ransomware not yet determined), with advisories going out to stakeholders covering written notice and complementary monitoring service offered (not triggered).

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating ransomware attack on its computer network, source undetermined and Valid Accounts (T1078) with lower confidence (40%), supported by evidence indicating source of ransomware remains undetermined (could include compromised credentials). Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including ransomware attack on its computer network, and contained early—preventing system shutdowns. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with lower confidence (30%), with evidence including driver’s license numbers *may* have been accessed, and unconfirmed data exfiltration. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Indicator Removal: File Deletion (T1070.004) with lower confidence (40%), supported by evidence indicating ransomware caught early by existing protections (implies evasion attempts may have occurred). Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with lower confidence (40%), supported by evidence indicating driver’s license numbers may have been accessed. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.