Ransomware group PEAR took credit for a cyber attack earlier this month on West Chester Township, Ohio.
West Chester Township officials on August 12 announced they had isolated and contained a cybersecurity breach. PEAR claimed responsibility for the attack on August 15, 2025, saying it stole 2 TB of data.
West Chester Township has not verified PEAR’s claim. We do not know if the township paid a ransom, how much PEAR demanded, or how attackers breached West Chester’s network. Comparitech contacted West Chester Township officials for comment and will update this article if they respond.
Two weeks later, city officials reported a second attack on the township’s central email server. The city on August 26 said it shut down email, phone, and website services in response. Township employees reported receiving ransom notes.
No ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the second attack as of time of writing.
West Chester Township is still investigating the incidents with the help of FBI analysts. Officials haven’t disclosed what data was compromised.
“We don’t currently know what data they have or don’t have. What we can say is we know there was some kind of intrusion – we don’t know what kind of data they got or may have access to – and we have not received any information that would verify the claims they may have made,” West Chester Township public information officer Brian Wooten told WLWT5.
Two other towns it Butler County, OH–Middletown and Liberty Township–also reported cyber attacks this month.
Who is PEAR?
PEAR, or Pure Extraction and Ransom, is a new ransomware gang that steals and ransoms data. Unlike many other ransomware strains, it does not encrypt data. Instead, it focuses solely on data theft and extortion.
PEAR has claimed responsibility for 22 ransomware attacks in total, but only two of those have been confirmed by the attacked organizations so far. West Chester Township is one, and the other is Think Big Healthcare Solutions, which reported a breach in June 2025.
The attack on West Chester Township is PEAR’s first and only claim on a government entity to date.
Ransomware attacks on US government
In 2025 to date, Comparitech researchers have logged 49 confirmed ransomware attacks on US government entities.
In August 2025, we have confirmed two other such attacks:
- The attorney general of Texas issued a catastrophe notice for a ransomware attack on Greenville, TX that crippled access to government and police records.
- Box Elder County, UT reported a data breach for which ransomware group Interlock took credit.
Ransomware attacks on US government entities can shut down critical systems and endanger the privacy of both employees and residents. Infected organizations must pay a ransom to stop the attacker from selling or publicly releasing stolen data. If they don’t, the organization faces extended downtime, permanent data loss, and putting customers at increased risk of fraud.
About West Chester Township
West Chester Township is the most populous of 13 townships in Butler County, Ohio. It is home to about 65,000 people and is located about 18 miles away from Cincinnati.
