Florida officials confirmed Friday that the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles suffered a cyberattack by an international cybercriminal organization discovered Sept. 4.
Hackers gained access through a single Plant City Police Department employee whose credentials were stored on a personal device. State officials said the breach was "quickly mitigated, and no further breach has occurred or is ongoing."
The confirmation came days after ShinyHunters, a known extortion group, claimed the Florida DMV as a victim on its dark web site, setting a Sept. 11 deadline for the state to negotiate a ransom. On Friday afternoon, after the FLHSMV released its statement, ShinyHunters removed all references to Florida from its posting.
Ian Gray, vice president of intelligence at threat monitoring firm Flashpoint, said such removals typically signal active negotiations. "When a victim is missing from a blog, it typically means that there was a negotiation," Gray said. The FLHSMV declined to say whether it was discussing terms with ShinyHunters.
The breach marks the second major breach of Americans' driver's license data in weeks. IDscan.net, a vendor used by private companies to scan driver's licenses, is investigating a separate breach in which hackers claimed to have stolen 160 million IDs, including one belonging to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Federal investigations are ongoing into that incident.
ShinyHunters posted a sample file from Florida's Driver and Vehicle Information Database, a screenshot that allegedly showed the driver's license of Jeffrey Epstein, a financier and former Florida resident, including his purported Social Security number and registered vehicles. NBC News could not verify the image's authenticity.
