Atlanta, held hostage by ransomware attack, illustrates growing cybersecurity threat Remember when a major U.S. city?s computer infrastructure was hacked, and held ransom, by a group of cyber criminals"
It?s very possible that Atlanta?s battle with this new type of online threat last month?hackers gained control and shut down the city?s computer system for days?went unnoticed due to the recent rapid-fire news cycle. Atlanta?s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms compared the incident, known as a ransomware attack, to a hostage situation.
While the premise of hackers holding a city ransom may seem sci-fi, cyber security experts believe it?s already a common menace.
?It?s a fairly big problem because unfortunately, state and local governments are prime targets,? says Allen Liska, a senior intelligence analyst at Recorded Future, a company specializing in cyber threat assessment. ?After what happened in Atlanta, cities are going to appear as big targets. And now, with so many constituent services online, cities have a huge exposure on the internet.? It?s also more everyday than many expect. A survey taken by the International City/County Management Association and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, found a quarter of local governments reported experiencing attacks, a vast majority unsuccessful, as often as once an hour.
?It?s somewhat surprising it doesn?t happen more,? says Justin Cappos, a NYU computer science professor who studies cyber security. ?Many of the...