‘All we know is MONEY!’: US cities struggle to fight hackers | Cities | The Guardian: “We won’t talk more, all we know is MONEY! Hurry up!”
This was the ransom note that confronted Baltimore officials on 7 May when hackers crippled government computers with a virus, taking the systems hostage. The ongoing cyber-attack has halted real estate transactions and shut down websites for processing water bills and other services.
The horrors of ransomware – where cybercriminals break in, lock up computer data, then demand payments to restore access – have increasingly hobbled cities and municipalities across the globe in recent years. The crisis in Baltimore, where officials have refused to pay the $76,000 bitcoin ransom, follows similar incidents in Atlanta, Newark, San Diego and Los Angeles.
This was the ransom note that confronted Baltimore officials on 7 May when hackers crippled government computers with a virus, taking the systems hostage. The ongoing cyber-attack has halted real estate transactions and shut down websites for processing water bills and other services.
The horrors of ransomware – where cybercriminals break in, lock up computer data, then demand payments to restore access – have increasingly hobbled cities and municipalities across the globe in recent years. The crisis in Baltimore, where officials have refused to pay the $76,000 bitcoin ransom, follows similar incidents in Atlanta, Newark, San Diego and Los Angeles.