Bulletin: San Bernadino County Pays 1.1 Million to Settle Ransomware
According to recent reports, San Bernardino County has paid a sum of $1.1 million to hackers who were responsible for a ransomware attack on the sheriff’s department network.
The attack was discovered on April 7, and efforts were made to secure the system, while forensic specialists investigated the situation.
The payment was primarily covered by insurance, with the county paying $511,852. Officials stated that the decision to pay the ransom was made after careful consideration and was deemed to be the responsible course of action, consistent with how other agencies have dealt with similar incidents. While the ransomware attack did not impact county or law enforcement operations, authorities are conducting a forensic examination to gain a full understanding of the situation.
Further information on the matter cannot be provided at this time due to an ongoing criminal investigation.
Ransomware attacks usually involve hackers encrypting files and demanding a ransom in exchange for decryption.
To avoid ransomware attacks, individuals and organizations should take several precautionary measures, such as:
Regularly updating operating systems and software with the latest security patches.
Using reputable antivirus and anti-malware software.
Being cautious when opening email attachments or clicking on links from unknown sources.
Backing up data regularly to ensure it can be restored during an attack.
Training employees on how to recognize and respond to potential phishing emails or other suspicious activity.
Using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication to protect accounts.
Limiting user access to sensitive data or systems.
Implementing network segmentation to isolate critical systems from the rest of the network.
Monitoring network activity for unusual or suspicious behavior.
Having an incident response plan in place to quickly respond to and mitigate any potential attacks.
Using reputable antivirus and anti-malware software.
Being cautious when opening email attachments or clicking on links from unknown sources.
Backing up data regularly to ensure it can be restored during an attack.
Training employees on how to recognize and respond to potential phishing emails or other suspicious activity.
Using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication to protect accounts.
Limiting user access to sensitive data or systems.
Implementing network segmentation to isolate critical systems from the rest of the network.
Monitoring network activity for unusual or suspicious behavior.
Having an incident response plan in place to quickly respond to and mitigate any potential attacks.