Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority

On February 10, 2021, the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) suffered a ransomware attack that encrypted critical files, leading to a data breach reported by the Maine Attorney General’s Office on April 12, 2021. The incident exposed personal and financial information of Maine residents, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial records. While the breach impacted multiple individuals, only two Maine residents were directly notified, suggesting either limited exposure or targeted data compromise. The attack disrupted operations and raised concerns over identity theft, financial fraud, and regulatory non-compliance. The nature of the stolen data highly sensitive personal and financial details indicates severe risks to affected individuals, including potential long-term reputational and financial harm to CMHA. The involvement of ransomware further escalates the severity, as it implies intentional malicious activity with demands for payment, compounding the organizational and legal repercussions.

Source: https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/799ee07f-3178-4f8d-ad86-ca85731e4089.shtml

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/cuyahoga-metropolitan-housing-authority

"id": "cuy547083025",
"linkid": "cuyahoga-metropolitan-housing-authority",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "2/2021",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'at least 2 (Maine residents '
                                              'notified)',
                        'industry': 'public housing / government',
                        'location': 'Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA',
                        'name': 'Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority '
                                '(CMHA)',
                        'type': 'government agency (housing authority)'},
                       {'customers_affected': '2 (directly notified)',
                        'location': 'Maine, USA',
                        'name': 'Maine residents (affected individuals)',
                        'type': 'individuals'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'Two Maine residents were directly notified of the '
                        'incident.',
 'data_breach': {'data_encryption': True,
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['names',
                                                         'addresses',
                                                         'Social Security '
                                                         'numbers'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'high (includes SSNs and financial '
                                        'data)',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['personal information',
                                              'financial information']},
 'date_detected': '2021-02-10',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2021-04-12',
 'description': "The Maine Attorney General's Office reported a data breach "
                'involving the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) '
                'on April 12, 2021. The breach, which occurred on February 10, '
                '2021, involved a ransomware attack that encrypted certain '
                'files, potentially exposing personal information of Maine '
                'residents, including names, addresses, Social Security '
                'numbers, and financial information. Two Maine residents were '
                'directly notified of the incident.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': True,
            'identity_theft_risk': True,
            'payment_information_risk': True,
            'systems_affected': 'certain files (encrypted)'},
 'ransomware': {'data_encryption': True},
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2021-04-12',
                 'source': "Maine Attorney General's Office"}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Maine Attorney '
                                                       "General's Office"},
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'direct notification to affected Maine '
                                        'residents via the Maine Attorney '
                                        "General's Office"},
 'title': 'Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) Ransomware Attack '
          'and Data Breach',
 'type': ['ransomware', 'data breach']}