A Cyberattack Hobbles Atlanta, and Security Experts Shudder

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/cyberattack-atlanta-ransomware.html

A cyberattack shook the Atlanta Municipal government, creating another case of digital extortion. The attacks proved the vulnerability that still exists within the systems, letting such cybercrime take its shape over and over again. In a typical ransomware attack, the malicious software blocks data and resources of the victim’s computer or network resources until a ransom is paid to unlock it. The attacker has been identified as someone from the SamSam Hacking group. This group is known to select their targets that are most likely to pay the ransom asked. Until date, this criminal group has been known to have extorted more than $1 million in ransom across 30 organizations. It is said that until cyber security is treated at the same level as public security, the need to constantly improve and enhance security systems against cyber-threat won’t take a good shape.