City of Atlanta Struggling Post-Ransomware Infection

Officials have confirmed, Atlanta’s municipal government has been brought to its knees by a ransomware attack — one of the most sustained and consequential cyber-attacks reported against a major American city to date.

It is believed the City of Atlanta’s systems were infected with the same ransomware variant, SamSam, that took down Colorado’s Department of Transportation earlier this month. At this time, multiple areas of the network, both internal and consumer-facing are offline. Some of which, interfere with an individual’s ability to pay for services online, as well as access the city’s transportation system, MARTA. However, Atlanta’s international airport, city website atlantaga.gov, and emergency systems appear to be running as usual.

The current ransom demands are at $51,000. City officials have reported the IT team is working directly with Microsoft bring the systems back online. It remains unclear how long systems will be offline, or if the city will end up paying the ransom demand.

Net net:  Residents cannot pay their traffic tickets or water bills online, or report potholes or graffiti on a city website. Travelers at the world’s busiest airport cannot use the complimentary Wi-Fi.

The digital extortion aimed at Atlanta, which security experts have linked to a shadowy hacking crew known for its careful selection of targets, laid bare once again the vulnerabilities of governments as they rely on computer networks for day-to-day operations.