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A town in Ontario is preparing to pay off the ransom demand of a hacker after a cyberattack left the community’s computer system locked down.
Midland, Ontario has not been able to access its computer system since September 01 following a massive ransomware attack.
“We had some very large players come in and take advantage of Midland,” Mayor Gord McKay said in a statement.
Midland’s financial processing system was also severely compromised by the attack. Officials had to put up a sign outside the Town Hall warning residents that the town could not accept payments via debit or credit cards.
McKay said that there appears to be no indication that the personal data of any of the residents was accessed improperly.
“As far as we know, there’s been no information revealed,” the mayor added.
The hacker who claimed responsibility for the attack demanded an undisclosed number of Bitcoins as ransom for Midland’s computers. Negotiations are ongoing, CTV News reported, and officials have declined to comment on the exact payment amounts being discussed.
It has been confirmed, however, that the direct cost of the ransom will be covered by the town’s insurance company.
This is not the first time the region has witnessed a massive ransomware attack; the nearby town of Wasaga Beach was also hit by a similar cyberattack this spring. The town managed to negotiate the ransom demand from $144,000 to about $35,000 (in Bitcoin). Wasaga Beach estimated that the overall cost of the attack was more than $250,000.
