Ransomware: Why one city chose to the pay the ransom after falling victim

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-why-one-city-chose-to-the-pay-the-ransom-after-falling-victim/

By Danny Palmer
ZDNet.com
August 12, 2020

A US city has explained why it gave into the demands of cyber criminals 
and paid a ransom demand of $45,000 following a ransomware attack.

Lafayette, Colorado fell victim to ransomware on July 27, which encrypted 
the city's computer networks and caused disruptions to phone services, 
email and online-payment and reservation systems.

It's thought that the ransomware – which hasn't been identified – entered 
the city's network via a phishing or brute force attack and wasn't part of 
a targeted campaign, but rather one that just set out to exploit 
vulnerable systems.

After examining the incident the city of Lafayette opted to pay the cyber 
criminals the ransom they demanded, perceiving it to be the quickest and 
most cost effective way to restore municipal services to residents, rather 
than attempting to restore services from scratch.

[...]

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