2018-10-28 17:29 |
Connecticut’s West Haven City Council Agrees to a $2,000 Demand to get rid of a Ransomware
Connecticut’s West Haven City Council has paid a whopping $2,000 in bitcoin to cyber criminals in order to get rid of a malware. They had to make a key decision to make the payment in order to resolve the ransomware issue that was threatening to cripple their systems.
Ransomware Originated Outside the U.S.When the issue of ransomware was confirmed, the city officials reported it to the Homeland Security, which began investigations immediately, determining that the attack originated from outside the U.S. Although specifics to the malware wasn’t released, it’s was evident that about 23 servers in the City Council were affected, which paralyzed their operations. The malware could have been distributed using email attachments, social media, downloadable links, or other common forms used by cyber criminals.
Cryptocurrencies Becoming a Safe Haven for Cyber CriminalsCryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, have become attractive to cyber criminals largely because of their anonymous nature. Most crypto transactions are usually untraceable, and cannot be linked to a particular identity. As such, culprits have been asking for ransom in terms of crypto to prevent themselves from being detected or apprehended.
This case of West Haven City Council isn’t the first. There are many others that have been reported since the inception of cryptocurrencies. ONWASA is one of the most recent cases where cyber criminals decided to ask for money in terms of crypto to remove a malware on their systems, but the company made a crucial decision not to pay a cent.
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