Crypto-ransomware attacks shut down the California school, demanded Bitcoin as a ransom to restore service
On January 29, 2020, crypto-ransomware attacks on Mountain View-Los Altos school and server systems caused severe consequences. Specifically, the malware required the school to pay a ransom in Bitcoin to restore the service as usual.
The school server activity has stopped working
By disabling access on county servers, this ransomware has created problems for teachers and administrators at Mountain View-Los Altos. Many classroom activities, such as exams and presentations, have been halted. Besides, fraudulent activities on district credit cards have taken place. And this fraud is thought to be related to the attack.
Moreover, whether or not students’ confidential information is compromised remains unknown. Related software called Sodinokibi is likely to come from Russia or China. The software came out in 2019 and has since increased globally. For example, in January 2020, this malware attacked London-based exchange company Travelex, requesting $ 6 million in ransom in cryptocurrency.
Statement on IT issues affecting Travelex Services pic.twitter.com/rpKagJLykn
— Travelex UK (@TravelexUK) January 2, 2020
The Mountain View-Los Altos government is seeking help from cybersecurity firm Kroll. However, the company claims that the system may be offline when schools resume operations on Monday morning. It promises to provide regular updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Crypto-ransomware attacks are on the rise
Although ransomware is not new. However, recently, it has appeared more often as profits continue to rise. Hackers are particularly interested in attacking governments and large businesses. Because these organizations will most likely pay large sums of money quickly to restore their networks. For example, a recent attack on New Orleans, Louisiana’s computer system, cost the city $ 7 million.
No question increasing the adoption of cryptocurrencies is catalyzing these attacks. Its borderless and anonymous architecture makes it the perfect payment method for digital ransom.
Solving this growing problem will not be easy. The entire network can quickly become infected if a user only opens malicious email attachments or runs the infected application. Addressing this problem is the fact that organizations such as cities and school districts tend to have older machines that are not up to date with the latest security software.
Unsurprisingly, insurance companies currently offer policies to protect against ransomware attacks. New Orleans, which has such a policy, will recover $ 3 million in lost money. Besides, law enforcement is increasingly educating about cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology to understand this new threat better.
While cryptocurrency critics frequently point to ransomware attacks, it is worth noting that this issue predates the development of Blockchain. Additionally, the overwhelming number of cryptocurrency transactions is legal.
Read more:
- Silk Road’s Roger Thomas Clark Plead Guilty On The Charges Of Conspiring To Distribute Massive Quantities Of Narcotics
- Kraken Research: It Only Takes 15 Minutes To Hack A Trezor Wallets