When Lake City, Florida (population 12,000) was hit with a Ryuk ransomware attack, they saw the painstaking work of digitizing 100 years worth of public records – dating back to before the Civil War –  gone from their control in an instant.

They paid $460,000 in ransom to get back their files.

In spite of their ransom payment, they have not gotten all their files back as of yet, if ever.

Lake City was not the only small city targeted for big ransom demands recently.  Riviera Beach (pop 35,000 ) and Key Biscayne (pop 13,000) were also targeted. Riviera Beach paid $600,000. As of July 7, 2019, Key Biscayne has not yet reported paying a ransom.

So it is not just big cities being hit.  Baltimore, Maryland, was struck with a ransomware attack on May 7, 2019 ( $76,000 ransom demand that the city has not paid, although the cost of restoring their system is now upwards of $18 million). Going after smaller towns and municipalities is turning out to be very lucrative, so they are becoming much more common targets.

Ransomers are successful at getting away with exploiting vulnerabilities… that are completely avoidable.

Ransomers take advantage of the fact that most city network developers have been lured by the temptation to cut corners on network security and backup. Most networks were built by betting against a breach. This tendency remains in the psyche of most businesses and enterprises, and it is a mindset that is ripe for exploitation.

Now is the time to re-evaluate your network for vulnerabilities and backup protocols, and to resolve to prioritize complete network security.

We are Secure Networkers, and we can help.