According to a local new outlet, SamSam attack on Atlanta’s municipal system has cost the administration roughly 2.7 million dollars in employing different system upgrades and ransomware repair measures. Some quarters are criticizing the local government to mishandle the situation, leading to a mess costing millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money.
It is important to note that the attackers demanded $50,000 to remove ransomware. However, the administration decided not to exploit in the hands of perpetrators and started ransomware repair on their own.
The decision to not pay the ransom was applauded by many but none of them have reflected on its repercussions on the ground. For instance, several departments of the local government had to suffer from several days of downtime and now news reports are saying that millions of dollars have been spent to recover from this digital disaster.
A cyber security researcher, at Georgia State University, Atlanta opines that the security of the attacked network was not as good as the administration perhaps thought it was. He says that the government is spending big bucks and using top-notch services to remove ransomware, which implies that the attack was more damaging and penetrative than the initial estimates.
The recent figures of spending on ransomware repair works has been presented by a local investigative journalist who have tracked eight emergency local government contracts awarded after the ransomware attack.
The city government has hired an internet security firm on whooping $650,000 fee for the assessment of fallout and development of a future action plan. Moreover, two other IT firms have also been signed for nearly 1 million dollar to upgrade the network system of local courts and to streamline the information management of the city.
All these recent emergency measures by the government are not just focused on the damage control. Instead, they are trying to build a powerful municipal network by revamping its foundation. These multimillion dollar expenses also show that the local government is paying a hefty price of holding on to its principles. We hope that all these big spending will transform the municipal network into a strong one that can withstand any ransomware attack.
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