{"id":54132,"date":"2016-08-22T14:14:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T14:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=54132"},"modified":"2016-09-16T18:11:10","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T18:11:10","slug":"major-florida-city-paralyzed-by-ransomware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/major-florida-city-paralyzed-by-ransomware\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Florida City Paralyzed by Ransomware"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Another city was attacked by ransomware, and this time the city was left paralyzed…<\/h4>\n

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The City of Sarasota, Florida was left crippled after a ransomware attack hit this month.\u00a0 The City’s computers were down for over a day before they were able to get their systems back up and running.<\/p>\n

The ransomware variant was not disclosed; however it was reported the attack originated from a malicious email.\u00a0 The ransomware demanded an undisclosed amount for payment in order to receive an encryption key.\u00a0 According to WWSB ABC 7<\/a>, the City did not make the payment and were able to recover their files on their own.<\/p>\n

If you find yourself a victim of ransomware, PC Matic encourages users to take the following steps:<\/p>\n

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  1. Do not pay the ransom<\/b> \u2013 If you do, you\u2019re just giving the hackers a reason to keep hacking.\u00a0 Use your back up files to restore your systems.\u00a0 Again, don\u2019t pay!!<\/li>\n
  2. Inform the FBI<\/strong> \u2013 By informing the FBI they can investigate to potentially bring legal action against the hacker.\u00a0 All cyber criminal activity should be reported to the federal IC3 agency.\u00a0 You can file a complaint with them here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Notify your current security software company<\/strong> \u2013 You also MUST inform your security software company.\u00a0 If they didn\u2019t know they missed a malicious attack, they cannot stop it in the future.\u00a0 Also, many anti-virus software companies share their blacklist, or the list of known bad files.\u00a0 So by sharing it with your software company, they then share it with others; saving thousands of people from falling victim to the same attack that just got you.<\/li>\n
  4. Educate yourselves and your employees <\/strong>\u2013 Many times we attend one training, or listen to one webinar and consider ourselves educated on the matter.\u00a0 This cannot be further from the truth.\u00a0 Continued education on current cyber security threats is imperative.\u00a0 We recommend our friends at KnowBe4 <\/a>for both personal and enterprise training on cyber security.\u00a0 As always, all PC Matic home\u00a0security subscribers are offered a free cyber security training<\/a> through KnowBe4 as well.<\/li>\n
  5. Reevaluate your security software protection<\/strong> \u2013 If your security software failed you, perhaps you should look for an alternative security option.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0United States\u00a0Computer Emergency Readiness Team\u00a0(US-CERT)<\/a> strongly advises using a whitelist security technology.\u00a0 For personal uses, PC Matic<\/a> home protection offers superior protection with advanced whitelisting technology.\u00a0 For enterprise use, there is PC Matic Pro<\/a>, which offers advanced security protection with proprietary whitelisting technology.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To find a full listing of ransomware attacks that have occurred in 2016, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    We have also generated an interactive map that includes all of the ransomware attacks within the United States that have occurred this year.\u00a0 <\/p>\n