A FLORIDA city agreed to pay US$600,000 in ransom to hackers who took over its computer system, the latest in thousands of attacks worldwide aimed at extorting money from governments and businesses.

The Riviera Beach City Council voted unanimously last week to pay the hackers’ demands, believing the Palm Beach suburb had no choice if it wanted to retrieve its records, which the hackers encrypted. The council already voted to spend almost US$1 million on new computers and hardware after hackers captured the city’s system four weeks ago.

The council’s approach was contrary to Baltimore, which was crippled by a similar ransomware attack weeks ago. Baltimore officials refused to pay a US$77,000 ransom. The effects of the hack in Baltimore were wide-ranging. Home sales were severely impacted while residents were left scrambling to pay bills online.

Officials believed in late May, the hack cost Baltimore roughly US$18.2 million.

In the Riviera Beach case, the hackers apparently got into the city’s system when an employee clicked on an email link that allowed them to upload malware. Along with the encrypted records, the city had numerous problems including a disabled email system, employees and vendors being paid by check rather than direct deposit and 911 dispatchers being unable to enter calls into the computer. The city says there was no delay in response time.

Spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown said Wednesday that the city of 35,000 residents has been working with outside security consultants, who recommended the ransom be paid. She conceded there are no guarantees that once the hackers received the money they will release the records. The payment is being covered by insurance.

The hackers demanded payment in the cryptocurrency bitcoin. While it is possible to trace bitcoins as they are spent, the owners of the accounts aren’t necessarily known, making it a favored payment method in ransomware attacks.

Numerous governments and businesses have been hit worldwide in recent years.

(SD-Agencies)

The U.S. government indicted two Iranians last year for allegedly unleashing more than 200 ransomware attacks, including against the cities of Atlanta and Newark, New Jersey. The men, who have not been arrested, received more than $6 million in payments and caused $30 million in damage to computer systems, federal prosecutors have said.