Nearly 22,000 Apex residents had information stolen in 2024 cybersecurity attack - WRAL

Nearly 22,000 Apex residents had information stolen in 2024 cybersecurity attack The town of Apex successfully recovered stolen data affecting 22,000 residents after a July 2024 cyberattack by securing a court order against a third-party cloud provider. Posted Updated Related Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded: 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE Remaining Time -0:00   1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off, selected Captions captions settings, opens captions settings dialog captions off, selected Unknown Captions Audio Track Picture-in-PictureFullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default valuesDone Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Nearly 22,000 people in Apex had information stolen in 2024 cybersecurity attack By WRAL Staff The town of Apex said about 22,000 residents may have had their data compromised in a cybersecurity attack in July 2024. The town announced Monday it has secured the stolen information with the help of the FBI. Other WRAL Top Stories “When public data is targeted by criminal actors, we must have clear pathways to recover it quickly,” said Apex Town Manager Randy Vosburg in a news release.  “We saw the opportunity, and we hope that taking decisive legal action in this case will allow other local governments to also take a stand for the privacy rights of their residents.” The town’s release on Monday said none of the data landed on the dark web and no indication it will be posted there. The FBI and the cloud storage provider Bublup, Inc., confirmed that the attacker stored town data within Bublup, Inc.’s cloud. Bublup, Inc. was not responsible for the attack, but the company declined to release the data back to the town without a court order.  The town of Apex petitioned the Wake County Superior Court for immediate relief to protect public services and the community’s information. On Oct. 10, 2024, the court granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) requiring Bublup, Inc. to provide the town full and direct access to its data.  The order, extended on Oct. 21, 2024, ensured that Apex could review and recover essential information. This action set the legal precedent that a local government successfully compelled a U.S.-based cloud provider to return data stolen in a cyberattack.  It demonstrated that municipalities have the right to recover their own data when it is unlawfully taken and the lack of access is harmful to town interests. Since the recovery, the town of Apex has worked through the complex analysis of the data to identify and notify the affected individuals whose personal information may have been involved.  It included working with a trusted third-party data analytics team as the town conducted an in-depth review of the impacted data. The town of Apex said will continue to work with cybersecurity professionals to assess their safeguards against constantly evolving threats. The town encourages people to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud. It also mentioned how people are entitled to a free credit report each year from each of the three (3) major credit reporting bureaus: • Equifax: 1-888-298-0045 • Experian: 1-888-397-3742 • TransUnion; 1-833-395-6938 MORE ON THIS The town of Apex is still working through issues months after a cyber attack. The hack last summer affected the town's utility billing process causing some residents to receive double bills. A review by an independent firm revealed the Town of Apex's utility system was underpaid by $300,000. © 2026 Copyright Capitol Broadcasting Company