Clarion County commissioners said Tuesday they learned some disturbing news at the recent County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania administrative conference.
“In the last three months, three Pennsylvania counties have been the subject of ‘ransom ware,'” Commissioner Ed Heasley said Tuesday. Heasley didn’t name the counties.
The Department of Homeland Security said “Ransom ware is a type of malicious software, or malware, designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid.”
“What they will do is encrypt your entire data and then they will demand a ransom before they give you the key to solve the encryption,” said county commissioner Ted Tharan. “That could cost $250,000 or more or you could try to rebuild things for $500,000. If just one employee hits the wrong button that’s it and you are encrypted.”
According to published reports, recent victims of ransom ware attacks include a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital; the city of Atlanta; and the Professional Golfers Association of America, which was attacked last month.
The Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo paid $10 million to recover its 6,000 computers and system instead of paying a $30,000 ransom to hackers.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office paid a ransom of $1,400 in bitcoin in late 2016.
“It’s not just your data anymore. The hackers will use ransom ware and take over the phone system which includes 9-1-1,” said commissioner Wayne Brosius.
“The data they hack is more valuable than the cash we have in the bank,” said Heasley.