Skip to main content

Lake City to Pay Nearly $500,000 to Hackers

Lake City to Pay Nearly $500,000 to Hackers

Hackers have found a sweet spot in encrypting and attacking municipal computer systems. Lake City is the latest to suffer from these attacks, and after two weeks of inaccessible services, have agreed to pay the $460,000 ransom to hackers.

  • By Kaitlyn DeHaven
  • Jun 27, 2019

Another Florida city has agreed to pay a ransom to regain control over their municipal computer systems. This is one of a few Florida cities to recently pay hackers a ransom to recover their information, as Rivera Beach just recently announced they would pay a $600,000 ransom to recover their encrypted files.

The mayor of Lake City told CBS 47 Action News Jax on Tuesday that the city would give the hackers $460,000 to hand back control of email and other servers seized on June 10. The attack knocked out the city’s email, and made it so the community could not pay their bills.

Ilia Kolochenko, the founder and CEO of ImmuniWeb said that this trend of encrypting computers and files, and only returning them for a ransom, is really a dangerous movement.

“This is a truly alarming trend that will likely spur targeted, well-planned attacks on cities and similarly defenseless victims. Until today, based on our experience, ransomware against such vulnerable classes of victims were either unsystematic or of relatively poor quality,” Kolochenko said. “However, with such lucrative and easy stakes on the table, cybercriminals will now willingly invest to prepare sophisticated, hardly-detectable and well-targeted campaigns. Worse, such cybercrimes are almost uninvestigable due to technical issues and payments in cryptocurrency.”

In the last 12 months, nearly half of organizations in the public sector say ransomware has impacted their business operations. In addition, 73% in the public sector have experienced two-to-five days of downtime as a result of the ransomware attack.

According to CBS 47 Action News Jax, all the city’s emergency services are in full operation, but it could take weeks or months until all services return to normal.

About the Author

Kaitlyn DeHaven is the Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

Most   Popular

New Products

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.