Atlanta Spent $2.6M to Recover From $52,000 Ransomware Scare

THE CITY OF Atlanta spent more than $2.6 million on emergency efforts to respond to a ransomware attack that destabilized municipal operations last month. Attackers, who infected the city’s systems with the pernicious SamSam malware, asked for a ransom of roughly $50,000 worth of bitcoin. (The exact value has fluctuated due to bitcoin’s volatility.) Atlanta officials haven’t said whether they paid the ransom, or even tried, but it seems that they may not have even had the chance; the attackers quickly took the payment portal offline, and left the city to fend for itself. So far, the recovery has been far more costly than the initial demand.