The City of Ellensburg, Wa. hit with ransom demand
When city workers went in to work on Monday, December 21st, they were met with a surprise.
The City of Ellensburg had been attacked.
A cybercriminal had encrypted almost all of the city’s data making network drives completely inaccessible.
To top it all off, that cybercriminal had also installed ransomware, meaning that the city was also facing a ransom demand that demands the city pay a fee in order for the criminal to remove the data encryption.
The city reached out to local and federal law enforcement to investigate the crime.
No city departments were spared from the attack, which has paralyzed the city’s administrative, financial services, and billing systems.
It is unknown how long Ellensburg’s systems may be unavailable.
The City of Ellensburg administrators state that they are currently working to determine the best and safest method to recover their data.
Unfortunately, Ellensburg now joins the growing list of the many businesses, government agencies, and institutions that were unprepared for the very real threat of a ransomware attack.
As always, if we can be of help with your network or computer, give us a call here at RHYNO Networks. (855) 749-6648
