Paying the ransom for ransomware is rarely recommended, but that didn’t stop Riviera Beach, Florida — a town with a population of around 35,000, north of West Palm Beach — from authorizing a payment of 65 Bitcoin, worth more than $600,000, to criminals in the hope that municipal data would be unlocked. The attack, which began on May 29 when a police department employee opened a malicious email attachment, ultimately disabled all of the city’s online systems, including email, a water utility pumping station, some phones, and the ability to accept utility payments online or by credit card.

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