As of two weeks ago, anonymous hackers breached the Baltimore city server, and the authorities had decided to lock down the entire content of the server. Now the city people are facing problems to complete their online tasks, and they are forced to choose offline services. All the online government services are down, and payment to city departments through offline mediums is impossible.
Hackers released ransomware into the city server and decrypted the entire files. They demanded 13 bitcoins to encrypt the files. But the city mayor, Jack Young had decided not to pay the amount as it is very big and equal to $100,000. FBI and secret services are investigating the people behind the attack. And the city Mayor has appointed some experts to restore the necessary online services.
The experts are saying that it will take a few months for them to restore the entire online services. Several companies in Austin prevent themselves from ransomware attacks by backing up the system at fixed time intervals. Back up process stores backed up data in a safe location where hackers cannot reach. ICS in Austin provides effective solutions and guidance to avoid ransomware attacks.
The hackers used RobinHood ransomware to infect the city server. The ransomware they used is very powerful and impossible to crack without a digital key. And getting that key without fulfilling the demand of hackers is impossible.
John Hopkins is a computer professor and expert in Baltimore, and he said, “Imagine if somebody would sneak into a government building at night, load up a bunch of boxes with all the paperwork for all the pending permits and all the pending house closings and all the pending business that the city was conducting, put it all in a truck and drive away — and demand some money in order to bring that truck back, that’s a lot easier to do in cyberspace without getting caught.”
