Spanish municipality rejects ransomware demand payment

Nearly €10 million in ransom has been demanded by threat actors behind a ransomware attack against the municipality of Calvia in Majorca, Spain, over the weekend, a fee which Mayor Juan Antonio Amengual emphasized would not be paid by the city council, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. All administrative deadlines, including those for civil claims and requests submissions, have been temporarily deferred until the end of the month following the attack, which was discovered on the morning of Jan. 13. Efforts to restore impacted systems were immediately set in place, with the council activating a crisis cabinet to determine the extent of the intrusion. "The city council deeply regrets the inconvenience that this situation may cause and reiterates its firm commitment to resolve the current situation in the most orderly, rapid and effective manner possible," said officials. The attack comes months after Spain joined a Counter Ransomware Initiative pledge against extortion demand payments among ransomware-hit government entities.