The city of Riviera Beach, Florida, agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom to decrypt its data, after a ransomware attack hit its computer systems.
The City Council board authorized its insurer to pay 65 bitcoins, valued at approximately $592,000. An additional $25,000 would come out of the city budget, to cover its policy deductible. “Without discussion on the merits, the board tackled the agenda item in two minutes, voted and moved on.”
The insurance company negotiated the payment on the city’s behalf.
The attack began on May 29, 2019, when an employee at the Riviera Beach police department opened a malicious email containing a link that once clicked, has allowed infecting the PC. The ransomware quickly spread inside the city infrastructure, causing several problems. The email system was disabled, employees and vendors couldn’t be paid by direct deposit and had to be issued checks manually, and 911 dispatchers were unable to accept calls.
Read more about it here.