SAN BERNARDINO (KNX) - San Bernardino County officials said they paid more than a million dollars in ransom to a hacker who infected the Sheriff’s Department’s computers with malware.
The ransomware attack began on April 7, the Sheriff’s Department said. It was most likely caused by an employee clicking a malicious hyperlink, which suddenly encrypted the department’s systems, according to ABC 7.
The malware prevented access to many programs, forcing the department to come up with workarounds to perform some vital functions until the ransom was paid to “unlock” the computers.
The San Bernardino Sun reported that insurance covered about half of the ransom money, with the county having to pay the rest.
It’s not clear yet whether any critical information was stolen by the hacker, but Sheriff Shannon Dicus says the security breach “did not compromise public safety.”
According to cybersecurity research site Comparitech, 330 ransomware attacks hit government organizations in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022, with ransom amounts varying from $1000 to $5.3 million.
The Los Angeles Unified School District fell victim to a ransomware attack last year, which compromised personal information for the district’s contractors and subcontractors.
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