Village of Palm Springs confirms cyber attack

[Destry Winant <destry () riskbasedsecurity com>]

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/village-of-palm-springs-confirms-cyber-attack

PALM SPRINGS, Fla. — Riviera Beach isn't the only local municipality
paying ransom to cyber hackers. The Village of Palm Springs said it
too was hit by hackers.

Palm Springs Village Manager Rich Reade said the cyber attack happened
more than a year ago. According to Reade, malware called 'Amnesia 3'
got into their system through a phishing email and locked them out of
their files.

Reade said the hackers split their ransom request into three
decryption keys. Reade said the village paid for the first and second
keys, but they didn't unlock all of the files. The village refused to
pay for a third.

Reade said they sent about $1,200 worth of bitcoin to the hackers,
before working with an outside IT firm to get their files back.

The IT firm cost about $70,000, but Reade said they are now much
better prepared for any future attack.

Reade said the village does constant drills and education with
employees. They also hired an IT director following the hack.
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