Baltimore’s Crypto Ransomware Attack Reaches $18 Million

Baltimore’s crypto ransomware attack which started last month on the city’s networks reaches the $18 million point. The total costs of the attack are expected to exceed this limit and in today’s altcoin news we learn more why.

According to Ars Technica, it will take up to $10 million to fund the recovery of the entire IT infrastructure. Also, the officials estimated that the city lost revenues that reach $8 million while the systems were down and damaged. So far, the city spent more than $1 million on new hardware, computer software and everything else needed to improve the infrastructure. Baltimore also hired temporary workers who joined the cleaning of the malware process.

The lost revenues and the cost of the recovery process are much more different than what the attackers are demanding which is about $80,000 in crypto. The people of the city are wondering why the city is not paying off the hackers and save the taxpayers money. However, the deputy chief of staff for operations for Baltimore’s mayor Sheryl Goldstein, the FBI was the one that discouraged the city to pay off the attackers. The city authorities wanted to pay off the hackers since they thought this will save the city and according to Goldstein:

‘’The federal investigators have advised us not to pay the ransom. The data shows you have less than a 50-50 chance of getting your data back if you pay the ransom, and, even if you pay the ransom, you still have to go within your system and make sure they’re out of it. You couldn’t just bring it back up and believe they were gone, and so we would be bearing much of these costs regardless.’’

Baltimore’s crypto ransomware attack damaged the city incredibly. The Mayor of the city Jack Young even tweeted that the Secret Service had also advised against paying the ransom despite the demands from the citizens to pay off the ransom to the hackers. Young, however, noted that ‘’this is not the way we operate and we won’t reward criminal behavior.’’ He also warned that by paying the ransom there is still one possibility left for the hackers to demand more.

As reported in the latest cryptocurrency news, the hackers have been applying pressures to get their demands and have leaked some of the documents that they stole.