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| Another Hacked Florida City Pays a Ransom, This Time for $460,000 | Another Hacked Florida City Pays a Ransom, This Time for $460,000 |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| MIAMI — Even the phones went down in the government of Lake City, Fla., after hackers launched a cyberattack that disabled the city’s computer systems. | MIAMI — Even the phones went down in the government of Lake City, Fla., after hackers launched a cyberattack that disabled the city’s computer systems. |
| For several days after computer systems were paralyzed by a ransomware attack, the staff of the small North Florida town worked with the F.B.I. and an outside security consultant to restore phone lines, email and online utility payments. But in the end, city leaders called an emergency meeting this week and reluctantly approved paying the hackers the ransom they demanded: 42 Bitcoin, or about $460,000. | For several days after computer systems were paralyzed by a ransomware attack, the staff of the small North Florida town worked with the F.B.I. and an outside security consultant to restore phone lines, email and online utility payments. But in the end, city leaders called an emergency meeting this week and reluctantly approved paying the hackers the ransom they demanded: 42 Bitcoin, or about $460,000. |
| It was the second city to agree to a large ransom in two weeks. Riviera Beach, in Florida’s Palm Beach County, signed off on an extraordinary $600,000 payment last week, also in Bitcoin, a cybercurrency that is difficult to trace. | |
| As in Riviera Beach, the brunt of Lake City’s ransom will be paid by insurance. Only $10,000 will come out of the city’s coffers. | As in Riviera Beach, the brunt of Lake City’s ransom will be paid by insurance. Only $10,000 will come out of the city’s coffers. |
| “With your heart, you really don’t want to pay these guys,” Mayor Stephen Witt said. “But, dollars and cents, representing the citizens, that was the right thing to do.” | “With your heart, you really don’t want to pay these guys,” Mayor Stephen Witt said. “But, dollars and cents, representing the citizens, that was the right thing to do.” |
| The F.B.I., as it typically does, recommended against agreeing to the hackers’ demands. But Mr. Witt said a prolonged recovery would have cost taxpayers more. Though there was no guarantee that the attackers would release the city’s data, Mr. Witt said information technology staff had already been making strides since the ransom had been paid. | The F.B.I., as it typically does, recommended against agreeing to the hackers’ demands. But Mr. Witt said a prolonged recovery would have cost taxpayers more. Though there was no guarantee that the attackers would release the city’s data, Mr. Witt said information technology staff had already been making strides since the ransom had been paid. |
| Ransomware has become a digital epidemic for the public sector, which often manages large, tangled webs of computer networks, running older software, with limited budgets to defend them. Police departments in Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts and Tennessee have all opted to pay the ransom demands to get back their data. The difference in Florida is that the attackers are now emboldened, raising their ransom demands by a factor of 10 or more. | |
| City officials in Baltimore, a much larger city that has been fighting a massive ransomware attack for the past two months, have spent $18 million on recovery. Hackers there had demanded a ransom of $80,000. A slew of other governments, including the city of Atlanta, have faced similarly crippling breaches. | City officials in Baltimore, a much larger city that has been fighting a massive ransomware attack for the past two months, have spent $18 million on recovery. Hackers there had demanded a ransom of $80,000. A slew of other governments, including the city of Atlanta, have faced similarly crippling breaches. |
| The Lake City attack began on June 10 when an employee clicked on a malicious email and infected the city’s computers with ransomware, according to the mayor. The program, which the city identified as malware known as “Triple Threat,” affected everything but Lake City’s police and fire departments, which are on a separate server. | The Lake City attack began on June 10 when an employee clicked on a malicious email and infected the city’s computers with ransomware, according to the mayor. The program, which the city identified as malware known as “Triple Threat,” affected everything but Lake City’s police and fire departments, which are on a separate server. |
| “As a result, all Emergency services remain intact,” the city said when it disclosed the attack. | “As a result, all Emergency services remain intact,” the city said when it disclosed the attack. |
| Several days went by before the hackers demanded a ransom. At first, the city, which is about 65 miles west of Jacksonville, at the point where Interstate 10 and Interstate 75 meet, had some luck restoring its systems on its own. But then it ran into trouble, so city leaders decided instead to negotiate with its insurance carrier, Florida League of Cities, to make the ransom payment. | Several days went by before the hackers demanded a ransom. At first, the city, which is about 65 miles west of Jacksonville, at the point where Interstate 10 and Interstate 75 meet, had some luck restoring its systems on its own. But then it ran into trouble, so city leaders decided instead to negotiate with its insurance carrier, Florida League of Cities, to make the ransom payment. |
| There is a chance Lake City could have decrypted the ransomware on its own. A spokesman for the city said the ransomware was a variant of a malware strain called “Ryuk.” Security experts have successfully unscrambled Ryuk ransomware in 3 to 5 percent of cases, according to Emsisoft, a security firm. Part of the problem, said Brett Callow, a spokesman at Emsisoft, is that security experts need better communication channels with victims. His firm created ID Ransomware, a free website that allows victims to upload strains of ransomware so that security experts can help them to decrypt it. | |
| In Europe, similar projects have proved successful. Security experts, law enforcement and local officials are partnering on the No More Ransom Project to share information about attacks in real time, share decryption techniques, and point law enforcement toward attackers’ command and control servers. In Poland last year, the Polish police, Belgian Federal Police and Europol arrested a Polish national suspected of having infected several thousand computers with ransomware. Security experts said they have had similar success working with the Dutch National Police, but have had a harder time connecting with the F.B.I. because the agency has stricter communication protocols. | |
| Mr. Witt said Lake City fired an employee who it deemed had not done enough to protect the computer systems from an intrusion. That employee was not the same person who clicked on the malicious email, he said. | |
| “We’re developing a system with a backup that hopefully won’t be vulnerable,” Mr. Witt said, imploring other small-town mayors to do the same. “Every other town needs to look at their system — today.” | “We’re developing a system with a backup that hopefully won’t be vulnerable,” Mr. Witt said, imploring other small-town mayors to do the same. “Every other town needs to look at their system — today.” |
| “I have been in office 14 years,” he added. “We’ve had tornadoes. We’ve had hurricanes. We’ve had fires that they told me were going to maybe reach the city limits. But this was unusual. This was different.” | “I have been in office 14 years,” he added. “We’ve had tornadoes. We’ve had hurricanes. We’ve had fires that they told me were going to maybe reach the city limits. But this was unusual. This was different.” |