City of Oakland hack attack for ransom drags on
City of Oakland hack attack for ransom drags on
The City of Oakland, is under siege from criminals who want money in exchange for vast amount of hacked data which slowed city operations to a crawl. Since at least last Wednesday, the City of Oakland's computer system has been the victim of a ransomware attack.
OAKLAND calif., - The City of Oakland, is under siege from criminals who want money in exchange for vast amount of hacked data which slowed city operations to a crawl.
Since at least last Wednesday, the City of Oakland's computer system has been the victim of a ransomware attack.
City officials claim that 9-1-1, fire, emergency resources and financial data, are not impacted by the attack. But, one City Hall insider told KTVU that finance operations are impacted.
The city has been tight-lipped about the scope and effect of the ransomware attack.
Most ransomware attacks demand money to return control of the system and return of frozen or stolen data.
"Two things that can happen. It could shut down your whole systems, and it can also take all of your data as well," said Cybersecurity expert and professor Kevin Powers.
Oakland City Hall is closed through Tuesday because of the hack.
The city will also have to wipe all computers once offices reopen.
"If they have all the data backed up, they're gonna wipe the computers clean," Powers said.
Veeam Software, a high level internet security firm, says 24% of hacked organizations that paid ransom, still could not recover their data.
"The federal government and the state government is not providing the funding there to really protect the critical infrastructure of a city," Powers said.
According to experts, the worst case scenario for Oakland is if ransom is paid to hackers and critical information is also sold on the dark web.