The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department paid hackers $1.1 million in ransom, an unusual occurrence for a law enforcement agency.
Weeks after a cyberattack crippled the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department computer systems, county officials confirmed that the hackers had been paid a $1.1-million ransom.
Ransomware attacks on public institutions such as cities, school districts and hospitals have risen sharply in the U.S. in recent years. Government computer networks can contain troves of sensitive data and often have less robust protections than those of major companies., hackers steal or block access to key files or data, then demand payment in exchange for returning or restoring them.
The hackers who targeted the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department work out of Eastern Europe, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the incident. Wert said the county and its insurer agreed to pay the $1.1-million ransom to “restore the system’s full functionality and secure any data involved in the breach.”
Those included officer payroll files, a spreadsheet that appeared to identify Azusa gang members along with their nicknames, crime scene photos and investigative reports referencing confidential informants.
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