New Orleans has become the latest city to call for an emergency state and has shut down its computers amidst a wave of Bitcoin(BTC)trade ransomware attacks by hackers targeting cities and state governments.
The cyber security event was called after suspicions of an illicit activity were observed at around 5 am on Friday morning. 3 hours later, the activity increased, and evidence of attempts of phishing and cryptocurrency ransomware surfaced.
New Orleans’ head of Information Technology, Kim LaGrue, confirmed that the city had been under attack in a press conference, and servers and computers were closed down after that. She also said that currently there are no demands made to the city of New Orleans in the wake of ransomware detection.
Previously many other local and state governments have been targeted by ransomware, a malware that encrypts the infested files and to undo the damage, a decryption key is needed in exchange for money, usually Bitcoin. Over the past year, the city of Pensacola and Jackson County have been affected by ransomware attacks as well. Last month, Louisiana state government was attacked, taking the state government website down, making the governor declare another state of emergency for the second time in the span of six months.
Local governments are often targeted due to their weaker protection systems as a result of being underfunded. The investigation has just started but the city’s employees have not been in touch with the possible hackers as reported by officials.
Operating Without the Internet
The Director of Homeland Security, Collin Arnold, commented that New Orleans has been previously prepared for the attack due to its ability to operate with or without internet, and without the city’s network. All three authorities, federal, state and locals are involved with the investigation process behind the security incident.
Emergency communications are not affected by the cybersecurity event, but several other services that require network connections, such as scheduling building inspections are being done manually in person, as reported by city officials working on the case. Police, fire and EMS are ready to work outside of New Orleans’ internet network.
New Orleans’ real-time Crime center has been performing outside of the city’s network. However, the cameras that are located throughout the city are storing the recordings independently. According to Arnold, those cameras are continuing the job of recording and storing the footage despite not being connected to the city’s network.
The city’s social media platforms have shared details about the incident across all forums with official accounts of the ongoing event.
