The Houston Rockets NBA basketball franchise recently announced that it is investigating a ransomware attack that was partially prevented by internal security tools. According to the team, “unknown actors attempted to install ransomware on certain internal systems at the Rockets. However, our internal security tools prevented ransomware from being installed except for a few systems that have not impacted our operations.”

It has been reported by Bloomberg that the hacking group responsible for the attack is Babuk, which earlier claimed on its dark web page that it would publish 500 gigabytes of the Rockets’s data that it exfiltrated unless the Rockets pay an undisclosed ransom for its return. The message is reportedly no longer present on Babuk’s dark web page.

Photo of Linn Foster Freedman Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her…

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.