Florida City Agrees to Pay Malware Ransom

“The Riviera Beach City Council authorized the city’s insurer to pay nearly $600,000 worth of ransom to regain access to data walled off through an attack on the city’s computer systems,” the Palm Beach Post reports.

“The city’s email and computer systems, at City Hall, the city’s Port Center offices and elsewhere, including those that control city finances and water utility pump stations and testing systems, are still only partially back online, two weeks after the ransomware attack was disclosed. But crucial data encrypted by the attackers remains beyond reach and there was no explanation of whether the city has any guarantee that the ransomers will release it if paid.”

“More than 50 cities across the United States, large and small, have been hit by ransomware attacks during the past two years.”