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.

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“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