Ransomware incidents (Seattle Police Department)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Seattle Police Department of Seattle, WA.

It is a clone of this request.

Tracking #

P079470-082621

Multi Request Ransomware incidents
Est. Completion March 11, 2022
Status
Payment Required

Communications

From: Emma North-Best

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Documents, including but not limited to emails, memos, and incident reports, mentioning or describing any reported or encountered incidents of "ransomware," which may be loosely defined as a type of malware that threatens to permanently encrypt and/or unless a ransom is paid.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma North-Best

From: Seattle Police Department

At this time, the Seattle Police Department’s Legal Unit is operating under an extreme backlog of requests, staffing shortages, the redeployment of supporting units to SPD’s frontline COVID-19 response, and, pursuant to CDC recommendations and City direction, reassignment to remote access. We apologize for any inconvenience, and deeply appreciate your understanding as we all pull together, in the face of this unprecedented, pandemic public crisis, to manage as best we can our business operations.

Dear Emma North-Best:

Thank you for using the Seattle Police Public Records Request Center.

Your request was received on August 26, 2021and the reference number is P079470-082621.

If the City's representative entered your request into the system and you didn't specifically register:

* Access the Police Public Records Request Center
* Access the "My Records Request Center"
* Access the "View My Requests"
* Enter the E-Mail below (should be the E-Mail you gave the representative)
* At the login prompt click the forgotten password link
* You will be sent a temporary password to login and then change to a permanent password
Please use the center to track the progress of your requests, pay for your requests online, and download your records!

Here is your login: requests@muckrock.com
Request Summary Incident Information (if provided):

* Incident Number:
* Incident Date:
* Incident Time:
* Incident Location:
* Investigating Officers:
Request Description and Details (as provided):

* Overall Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Documents, including but not limited to emails, memos, and incident reports, mentioning or describing any reported or encountered incidents of "ransomware," which may be loosely defined as a type of malware that threatens to permanently encrypt and/or unless a ransom is paid.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma North-Best

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

From: Seattle Police Department

08/27/2021

Emma North-Best
requests@muckrock.com

RE: Public Disclosure Request #: P079470-082621

Dear Emma North-Best,

This communication is in response to your public disclosure request.

The purpose of this correspondence is to provide you a status update. Your request status is: Assigned.

If you have any questions, you may send messages using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)

This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.

SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing between 1400 to 1500 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.

From: Seattle Police Department

09/03/2021

Emma North-Best
requests@muckrock.com

RE:  Public Disclosure Request#: P079470-082621

Dear Emma North-Best,

This communication is in response to your public disclosure request.


The purpose of this correspondence is to provide you a status update.  Your request status is:  Being Researched/Reviewed.

If you have any questions, you may send messages using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.


Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox.

This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.

SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing between 1400 to 1500 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.

From: Seattle Police Department

--- Please respond above this line ---

09/03/2021

Emma North-Best
requests@muckrock.com

RE: Public Disclosure Request#: P079470-082621

Dear Emma North-Best,

This communication is in response to your public disclosure request received on August 26, 2021. At this time, the Seattle Police Department’s Legal Unit is operating under an extreme backlog of requests, staffing shortages, the redeployment of supporting units to SPD’s frontline COVID-19 response, and, pursuant to CDC recommendations and City direction, reassignment to remote access. We apologize for any inconvenience, and deeply appreciate your understanding as we all pull together, in the face of this unprecedented, pandemic public crisis, to manage as best we can our business operations.
Pursuant to RCW 42.56.520, this is notification that the Seattle Police Department has received your public disclosure records request and needs additional time to respond.
We will provide the records to you on 03/11/2022.
We are initiating the process of researching your request, collecting responsive records, and/or preparing records for dissemination.

If you have any questions, you may send a message using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.

Sincerely,
Larissa Malanca
Seattle Police Department
Legal Unit

SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing more than 2000 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.

As a reminder you can login at the Police Records Request Center where you can access Police online information, manage your profile, submit record requests, track your request status, receive and send messages, make payments, view frequently asked questions, and download your records.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)

From: Seattle Police Department

--- Please respond above this line ---

10/01/2021

Emma North-Best
requests@muckrock.com

RE: Public Disclosure Request#: P079470-082621

Dear Emma North-Best,

This acknowledges receipt of your public disclosure request P079470-082621 received on August 26, 2021.
Hello,
Please clarify the following: What time frame would you like to be searched? We will use only the keyword "ransomware" in our search for emails unless you provide additional keywords.
Thank you,
Lara


If you have any questions, you may send a message using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.

Sincerely,
Larissa Malanca
Seattle Police Department
Legal Unit

SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing more than 2000 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.

As a reminder you can login at the Police Records Request Center where you can access Police online information, manage your profile, submit record requests, track your request status, receive and send messages, make payments, view frequently asked questions, and download your records.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)

From: Seattle Police Department

This email is in further response to your public disclosure records request P079470-082621. The Seattle Police Department has records ready to be released pending payment.

You have 30 days from today's date to pay for your records. If the City does not receive your payment within this time period, your request will be considered abandoned, and you will need to submit a new request.
SPD strongly encourages online payments during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To pay online, please follow these steps:

* Navigate to the Public Records Request Center.
* Select 'My Records Request Center'.
* Select 'View My Requests'. You may be asked to login.
* Find this request: P079470-082621.
* Select the 'View Invoices' button.

* Opens a pop-up window showing your invoice: INV22-P079470-1.
* Click on the invoice and then the 'Pay Now' button.
* Continue processing your payment.
* Select 'Done'.
* Once the payment process is done, you are returned to the Public Records Request Center.
* After your payment is successful you will receive an email from our payments center. After we receive your payment through the Police Records Request Center Secure Payments, the Public Disclosure Unit will release your records within one to two business days and send you a notice with instructions on how to download the records.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)

This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.

Files

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