Threat Management, Malware, Ransomware

City of Newark reportedly hit in ransomware attack

A ransomware attack has hit some municipal computers in New Jersey's most populous city, Newark, TAPInto Newark reported on Monday, citing the city's CIO Seth Wainer and a document obtained by the media outlet.

According to the report, on Friday and over the weekend the malware encrypted infected files with an RAS-2048 algorithm, and the hacker demanded a ransom payment of 24 bitcoins, or approximately $30,000.

"The virus compromised our network and disrupted many services that we offer," Wainer told TAPInto Newark. "Our police services are unaffected and continue operating normally," adding that the city is in “safe mode as we inspect each service to look for security gaps."

In April of 2016, a cyberattack on the Newark Police Department brought down systems used to track and analyze crime data and to dispatch officers.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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