The city of Midland in the province of Ontario has decided to pay hackers a ransom, which they demand for decryption keys from malware that blocked the city's computer network.
Earlier this month, hackers infected the city's computer networks with a ransomware virus that encrypted all files on the system. Computers did not work for about 48 hours, people did not receive emails, payment systems did not process payments, government agencies did not issue licenses, public transport services did not issue travel tickets, and marriage registries did not register marriages. To unblock the network, the city decided to pay the extortionists the required ransom in bitcoin. The ransom amount was not disclosed.
“Under the guidance of cybersecurity experts, we have initiated a ransom process in exchange for decryption keys,” Midland City Council said in a press release. “It is in our interests to unblock the system as quickly as possible, especially since the city is provided with an insurance policy to cover such expenses.”
Opinions are divided on whether it is worth it to be provoked by scammers, and different victims react differently to attacks.
Midland City Hall, having insurance against such cases, decided to agree to the demands of hackers, but the US Professional Golf Association refused to pay a ransom in bitcoin after similar malicious programs were installed on its computer systems early last month. Additionally, UK cybersecurity firm Sophos reported last month that the creators of the SamSam scam have received more than $6 million since the malware was created in 2015. The largest amount provided by an individual is $64,000.
In addition, according to a study conducted by experts from Google, Chainanalysis, the University of California, the University of San Diego and New York University, the total amount that the creators of various malware managed to defraud their victims was $25 million in 24 months, with the majority of funds being cashed out through the exchange BTC-e.
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