The ransomware attack take away $2.7 million in Atlanta
A few weeks ago, the Atlanta municipal system suffered a large-scale ransomware attack. The ransomware infection caused online service interruptions in multiple cities. Many internal applications and customer-facing applications cannot be used due to server downtime, including applications that customers use to pay bills or access court-related information.
Security experts from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Department of Homeland Security, and well-known IT companies Microsoft and Cisco subsequently participated in a joint investigation of the incident. Investigators believe that the attack started with a vulnerable Java application server. After successfully hacking and hijacking the server, the hackers spread ransomware to computers on the entire city network.
Based on the public ransomware ransom note screenshots, hackers demanded that Atlanta City Government pay 0.8 bucks (about US$6,800) for each ransom computer as a ransom, or a one-time payment of 6 Bitcoins (approximately worth $ 51,000 to unlock the entire computer network.
Richard Cox, the new chief operating officer of Atlanta, said that there are indeed several departments that are affected by ransomware attacks but do not include critical infrastructure and services, such as several departments responsible for public safety, water supply, and airport services. Can still maintain normal operation.
Coming up at 5…with few specifics from City of Atlanta leaders, the clues we found of the growing cost to taxpayers from last months crippling cyberattack on city networks. @wsbtvstorm pic.twitter.com/vRP434exiC
— Aaron Diamant (@DiamantATL) April 11, 2018
According to a report published by the foreign media WSB-TV on Wednesday, ransomware attacks have already bought at least 2.7 million U.S. dollars in direct economic losses to Atlanta, according to a new one obtained by WB-TV reporter Aaron Diamant. data of.
According to information obtained by Aaron Diamant, the $2.7 million came from eight emergency contracts signed by the Atlanta Metropolitan Government after the attack. This included signing a $650,000 contract with cybersecurity company SecureWorks involving incident response; a contract with management consultancy Ernst & Young, amounting to $600,000, to provide consulting services; and, in addition, to Firsoft, the company signed a $730,000 contract and signed a $50,000 crisis communication service contract with public relations firm Edelman.
The good news is that after a lot of efforts, the local government agencies in Atlanta are gradually returning to normal operation. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has issued a statement in the past two weeks detailing the latest developments in the city’s recovery process after ransomware attacks.
The statement said that Atlanta City Government staff still work with security companies and law enforcement agencies to restore all systems as soon as possible. Although city officials urge all people to pay attention to whether their personal information has been abused, it seems that no one has experienced data leakage due to this incident. If necessary, they will provide additional protection resources for the affected people.
