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
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:50PM (2 children)
Way to go, guys. The Danes will be back in ever greater numbers.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 20 2019, @06:53PM
I'm sure those shiny new $1 million of computers won't become vulnerable to ransomware.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 20 2019, @07:22PM
The Danes are easily startled. But they will soon be back, and in greater numbers.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.