City in Florida pays hackers ransom

tedjames

This is why you back up your files regularly.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-city-pays-dollar600000-ransom-to-save-computer-records/ar-AAD7SyN?li=BBnb7Kz

mikey88

Ouch, that is one expensive click of an email link.

Johnhe0414

That was an interesting read...thanks

LonerVamp

Yeah, I've been looking to see where this may have been covered in the past, as I really would like to use it as an example of the risks of phishing attacks. The wave of news bits about it today and last night are all high-level mainstream pieces.

I found a small regional piece from June 1st: https://www.wpbf.com/article/riviera-beach-computer-shut-down-due-to-hacking-fix-may-cost-dollar1-million/2770640. Otherwise, absolutely nothing more detailed.

"An email got in. Someone clicked on an email. There was an intrusion. As soon as we became aware of it, we went and locked everything down," said Williams in answer to a councilman's question.

LonerVamp

"Someone in the police department on May 29 opened an email that unleashed a virus that paralyzed the city’s computer system, sending all of the city's operations offline."

tedjames

OK, it happened again...to another Florida city.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/second-florida-city-pays-giant-ransom-to-ransomware-gang-in-a-week/

Again, I say to back up regularly. Don't pay ransoms.

jeremy_dfir

+1 to what @tedjames said.

You may not avoid a breach, but for crying out loud BACK UP!

tedjames

The State of Colorado did things right: https://www.govtech.com/security/Colorado-Hack-Offers-Larger-Lessons-for-Cybersafety.html 

Their CISO was the keynote at a conference I attended earlier this year. Her talk, which focused on how they handled the problem, was really eye opening and inspiring.