{"id":123035,"date":"2019-05-23T14:54:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T18:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=123035"},"modified":"2019-05-23T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T18:56:06","slug":"heres-how-cyber-weaponry-has-literally-shut-down-a-major-american-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=123035","title":{"rendered":"Here’s how cyber-weaponry has literally shut down a major American city"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hackers Now Demand $10k Per Day In Baltimore Cryptocurrency Ransomware Attack<\/h1>\n

ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

Approximately 10,000 Baltimore City government computers remain crippled<\/strong>\u00a0after a cryptocurrency ransomware attack locked officials out of critical servers, basically paralyzing the city for 14 days and counting.<\/p>\n

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We were one of the first to report the May 7th attack<\/a>\u00a0that brought Baltimore’s entire communication network to a standstill. Hackers wanted 13 bitcoins (about $100,000) on day one of the attacks but have since demanded $10,000 per day since city officials refused to pay the ransom late last week.<\/p>\n

Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young has warned the attack continues to devastate the city, could take months to recover some servers.<\/p>\n

“It’s extremely alarming,”\u00a0<\/strong>said City Council President Brandon Scott.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Avi Rubin, a Johns Hopkins computer science professor and cybersecurity expert,\u00a0told NPR<\/a>\u00a0the ransomware used in the attack is “unbreakable,” and so powerful that even government specialists cannot crack the code to unlock the city’s computer network.<\/p>\n

“I don’t even think that the NSA would be able to break this algorithm,”<\/strong>\u00a0Rubin said.<\/p>\n

“It’s believed by the cryptographic community, both the theoreticians as well as the practitioners, to be unbreakable by today’s technologies.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is Baltimore’s second cyber attack in a little more than a year. Last March, a ransomware attack on the city’s emergency communications network forced dispatchers to relay addresses and other critical information to first responders via phone or text.<\/p>\n

As the city remains paralyzed on Wednesday, numerous services provided by the local government are either offline or workarounds have been developed.<\/p>\n

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On the eighth day of the attack (May 15th),\u00a0we reported the essential systems required for transacting real estate deals went offline<\/a>, throwing the entire housing industry into chaos, which meant no homes could be bought or sold in the area. But it was only until yesterday, where officials launched a manual workaround for property sales.<\/p>\n

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The City of Baltimore has developed a manual workaround that will allow real estate transactions to proceed during the City's technology outage. Starting tomorrow, the Wolman Municipal Building will be open from 7am – 7pm, Monday – Friday. Instructions below – please share! pic.twitter.com\/lvvoa7maTX<\/a><\/p>\n

— Comptroller Bill (@BillforBmore) May 19, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n