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posted by martyb on Thursday June 20 2019, @05:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the sign-of-things-to-come dept.

A Florida city paid a $600k Bitcoin ransom to hackers who took over its computers — and it's a massive alarm bell for the rest of the US

A Florida city's council voted to pay a ransom of $600,000 in Bitcoin to hackers that targeted its computer systems — and the payout is a sign of how unprepared much of the US is to deal with a coming wave of cyber attacks.

The city council of Riviera Beach, 50 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, voted on Monday to meet the demands of their hackers in the hope of getting back their compromised data, CBS News reported.

According to The Palm Beach Post, the attack began on May 29, when a employee from the police department opened an email attachment that contained malware. The software quickly spread through the city's computer systems, affecting its email system and even the 911 dispatch operations.

The New York Times reported that the hackers demanded their ransom in bitcoin. The paper noted that there is no guarantee that hackers will honor their end of the deal after getting the money. CBS reported that the council already voted to spend $1 million on new computers after the attack.

Also at CNN.

Related: In Baltimore And Beyond, A Stolen NSA Tool Wreaks Havoc


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:46PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:46PM (#858121)

    Isn't it illegal to pay terrorists in the US? US policy is not to pay ransom to kidnappers of Americans (unless they do), and the government has come down hard on families that tried to ransom out their loved one.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:52PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:52PM (#858127) Journal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_negotiation_with_terrorists#United_States [wikipedia.org]

    It's an informal policy. And refers to hostages rather than servers.

    As for coming down hard on families who pay money to designated terrorist organizations, it may be technically illegal but it isn't enforced:

    https://warontherocks.com/2019/02/no-concessions-a-closer-look-at-u-s-hostage-recovery-policy/ [warontherocks.com]

    America negotiates if someone else is paying. U.S. law prohibits providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. A White House official even threatened the parents of slain journalist James Foley, who were desperate to recover their son from the Islamic State. Nevertheless, no American has ever been prosecuted for paying a ransom. Into this permissive environment step all kinds of third-party intermediaries, including other states and foreign nationals. For example, the FBI reportedly helped the family of American hostage Warren Weinstein pay a ransom to al-Qaeda by facilitating the payment through a Pakistani middleman. Qatar, well-known for its staggering ransom payments and terrorist financing, played a key, murky role in bringing kidnapped American journalist Peter Theo Curtis home.

    Finally, the United States permits paying ransom as long as the hostage taker has not been designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Americans routinely pay legal ransoms to criminal organizations and other armed political groups. These cases are handled both by the U.S. government’s interagency Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell and a vast network of kidnap and ransom insurance policies and crisis management personnel.

    Thus, the U.S. government’s “no concessions” policy means only this: We will not give our money to a foreign terrorist organization to bring a civilian home.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20 2019, @08:33PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 20 2019, @08:33PM (#858203)

      As for coming down hard on families who pay money to designated terrorist organizations, it may be technically illegal but it isn't enforced:

      A White House official even threatened the parents of slain journalist James Foley, who were desperate to recover their son from the Islamic State.

      That was the case I was thinking of, thank you for finding that quote. Getting a visit or a phone call from a government official who tells you about the possibility of a 30 year stretch for charges like money laundering, providing material support to terrorists etc. is coming down pretty hard in my book, even if it never has gone to court because that's just too much risk in exchange to get your fool of a son back.