{"id":16662,"date":"2019-06-04T00:52:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T00:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=16662"},"modified":"2019-06-05T03:05:55","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T03:05:55","slug":"hackers-seek-ransoms-from-baltimore-and-communities-across-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/hackers-seek-ransoms-from-baltimore-and-communities-across-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Hackers seek ransoms from Baltimore and communities across the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Forno<\/a>, University of Maryland, Baltimore County<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The people of Baltimore are beginning their fifth week under an electronic siege<\/a> that has prevented residents from obtaining<\/a> building permits and business licenses \u2013 and even buying or selling homes<\/a>. A year after hackers disrupted<\/a> the city\u2019s emergency services dispatch system, city workers throughout the city are unable to, among other things, use their government email accounts or conduct routine city business<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In this attack, a type of malicious software called ransomware has encrypted key files, rendering them unusable until the city pays the unknown attackers 13 bitcoin, or about US$76,280. But even if the city were to pay up, there is no guarantee that its files would all be recovered; many ransomware attacks end with the data lost<\/a>, whether the ransom is paid or not.<\/p>\n

Similar attacks in recent years have crippled<\/a> the United Kingdom\u2019s National Health Service, shipping giant Maersk<\/a> and local, county and state governments across the U.S.<\/a> and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n