Paying ransom for data stolen in cyberattack bankrolls further crime, experts caution – By Jason Vermes (CBC Radio) / Nov 18, 2023
Ceding to demands can alert other hackers, with no guarantee access will be granted
When the town of St. Marys, Ont., fell victim to a cyberattack last year, lawyers advised the municipality to pay a ransom of $290,000 in cryptocurrency.
The decision was made after an analysis by firms specializing in cybersecurity. Al Strathdee, mayor of the southwestern Ontario town of about 7,000 residents, said the potential risk to people’s data was too high not to pay up.
“We could not be certain that there wouldn’t be information leaked that would be damaging someone’s reputation or something,” he told Spark host Nora Young.
Organizations — from corporations to small businesses, libraries to hospitals and towns to large governments — are facing similar dilemmas as cybersecurity incidents rise. Late last month, five hospitals in southwestern Ontario and the Toronto Public Library (TPL) announced that they were subjected to a ransomware attack.
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