Lafayette Pays $45,000 Ransom after Cyber-attack

[upnorth]

Content source

https://sentinelcolorado.com/news/metro/lafayette-pays-45000-ransom-after-cyber-attack/

Lafayette officials announced Tuesday the city’s computer systems were hacked and they were forced to pay a ransom to regain access.

Lafayette officials said hackers disabled the city’s network services and blocked its access until the city paid a $45,000 fee, the Daily Camera reported. The attack caused city emails, phones, online payments and reservation systems to temporarily shut down. The city’s system servers and computers are still in the process of being cleaned and rebuilt. Once finished, the relevant data will be restored into the system and operations will resume. In the meantime, the city is using temporary phone numbers and emails. “In a cost/benefit scenario of rebuilding the city’s data versus paying the ransom, the ransom option far outweighed attempting to build,” the city said in a statement. “The inconvenience of a lengthy service outage for residents was also taken into consideration.”

A preliminary investigation shows the ransomware entered the city’s network through a phishing scam or by guessing passwords. Mayor Jamie Harkins said using taxpayer dollars to pay a ransom was not ideal.

Lafayette pays $45,000 ransom after cyber-attack - Sentinel Colorado

"In a cost/benefit scenario of rebuilding the city's data versus paying the ransom, the ransom option far outweighed attempting to build," the city said in a statement. "The inconvenience of a lengthy service outage for residents was also taken into consideration."

sentinelcolorado.com

 

[Ink]

using taxpayer dollars to pay a ransom was not ideal.

Plot twist: Intentionally infected with ransomware to siphon tax payers money to an off-shore account.

Not accusing, just a thought..