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2nd Florida City Pays Hackers, as 3rd City Faces Breach:
A second small Florida city this month has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to hackers who took over most of its computer operations, an official said Wednesday, while a third Florida city said its data was breached.
The attacks in Riviera Beach, Lake City and Key Biscayne underscore the need for municipal governments to update and secure their software systems, and also reflect the dilemma of how to respond to hackers. The FBI doesn't condone paying ransom to hackers, but city governments often consider it the most convenient option.
The city manager of Lake City, a community of about 13,000 residents some 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Jacksonville, says it paid about $460,000 in bitcoin Tuesday to recover data and computer operations.
In a separate case, the Village of Key Biscayne, just off the coast of Miami, reported a data breach earlier this week. This comes a week after Riviera Beach in South Florida agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom.
It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between the attacks.
Joseph Helfenberg, city manager of Lake City, said paying the ransom was the cheapest option available since the city is paying a $10,000 deductible, and the rest is being covered by its insurer.
"We had a lot of attempts to recover the data that were unsuccessful," Helfenberg said Wednesday.
[...] Michigan State criminal justice professor Tom Holy said the recent attacks underscore the need for governments and businesses to spend money on backup systems and security protocols. If a city has been backing up its data, it's probably not worth paying a ransom, but if they haven't, "paying might be the cheapest option," Holt said.
"Which is really awful, but that's the point we may be at," Holt said. "This ransomware threat is not going to go away anytime soon."
What would happen in your town or city if it were attacked for ransom? Are networks properly partitioned? Are backups up-to-date? Have the backups actually been tested?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by stormreaver on Thursday June 27 2019, @11:26PM (6 children)
Hopefully, step #1 would be to stop using Windows.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NateMich on Friday June 28 2019, @12:01AM (4 children)
Yeah, just imagine the crickets when you suggest that at a town meeting.
I bet they wouldn't even understand what you mean.
You would try explaining and their eyes would just glaze over when you started talking about operating systems.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 28 2019, @12:43AM (3 children)
I hate to say it, but I think you're exactly right. My little town? I don't know if ANYONE outside my own home knows what a *nix is. I've told some of them, but I'll bet no one remembers. Windows on desktop, iOS on the phone if they need a status symbol, Android if the status symbol isn't terribly important.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 28 2019, @06:59AM (2 children)
im sure someone understood perfectly well, when mentioned in the bar, over a beer, that KB XYZ12345 wasn't applied, loudly.
maybe?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 28 2019, @02:06PM (1 child)
No bars in this little town. Nothing but the dead and the dying, back in my little town. I'd find the Youtube link for it, but I'm sure you can find it if you want to hear it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 28 2019, @03:11PM
I know that one without looking it up. Paul Simon's "My Little Town". The key change from the verse into the chorus is a subtle but very effective way of adding a sense of tension.
(Score: 2) by Teckla on Friday June 28 2019, @03:24PM
Over the years, it has become increasingly obvious to me that Windows, macOS, and desktop Linux are simply too hard for non-technical people to properly administer, Windows probably being the worst choice of all since it is targeted the most.
In my opinion, non-technical users should be limiting themselves to Chromebooks and/or iPads. Our technology needs to protect us from ourselves. Even smart people make mistakes sometimes, so the real solution is to make it hard or impossible to make mistakes.