September 03, 2019
The Rise of Municipal Ransomware
America’s smallest cities and towns stand on the frontlines of cyber warfare.
Last month’s coordinated ransomware attacks against 23 cities in Texas reflect a troubling trend for America’s cities: bad actors are addicted to the payoff. In the 30 years since the first ransomware attack, the digital environment has changed beyond recognition, and it will only continue to mutate—by next year, approximately 30 billion devices will be connected to the Internet, and by 2025, almost 5 billion people will have access to the web. This presents an ever-growing opportunity for cybercriminals to wreak havoc—with local governments frequently in their crosshairs.
In the simplest terms, ransomware is malware that locks up data until the victim pays money to regain access. Established ransomware tactics involve holding a user’s data hostage for a few hundred dollars in Bitcoin. But attackers also make use of new ransomware strains like “Ryuk” and “SamSam” that target and infect entire organizations, and the demands for money increase exponentially. For instance, SamSam’s ransomware extortions average about $50,000 per attack. In August, a “single threat actor” likely compromised a managed-service provider—a company that manages numerous IT systems or services—to conduct attacks against Texas municipalities, demanding a collective 2.5 million dollars. But even after cities pay up, attackers may continue to target them and their insurers.
Read the full article in the Manhattan Institute's City Journal.
More from CNAS
-
Amazon, Ring hit with $5 million class action lawsuit
Video
Center for a New American Security fellow Kara Frederick gives tips on how to protect smart home devices from hackers. Watch the full conversation on Fox News....
By Kara Frederick
-
The United States Needs a Strategy for Artificial Intelligence
Commentary
In the coming years, artificial intelligence will dramatically affect every aspect of human life. AI—the technologies that simulate intelligent behavior in machines—will chang...
By Martijn Rasser
-
America Desperately Needs AI Talent, Immigrants Included
Commentary
The United States is engaged in a global technology competition in artificial intelligence. But while the US government has shown commitment to developing AI systems that will...
By Megan Lamberth
-
CNAS: Bold Ideas for National Security
Video
This year, CNAS experts brought bold ideas and bipartisan cooperation to the national security conversation. In 2020, the CNAS team will continue tackling the biggest security...
By Susanna V. Blume, Kara Frederick, Kayla M. Williams, Loren DeJonge Schulman, Richard Fontaine, Kristine Lee, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Ely Ratner, Paul Scharre, Elizabeth Rosenberg & Carrie Cordero
