Atlanta’s chief information officer explains why it’s better to spend millions recovering city computer systems from a cyberattack than to pay the ransom.
In March 2018, hackers targeted Atlanta’s computer networks. Demanding $51,000 in bitcoins, the cyberattack held the city hostage for nearly a week. Some city services reverted to pen and paper to continue operations.
But the city refused to pay: It didn’t want to reward and encourage more ransomware attacks, and there was no guarantee that systems would be restored even if it paid. Ultimately, the financial hit to the city was far higher than the ransom. One city report uncovered by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution estimated that the costs associated with the attack could reach as high as $17 million.
The episode marked a critical moment of truth for the city. Atlanta was unprepared for such a significant disruption, but it was clear that hackers had targeted cities before and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future. So the city’s response wasn’t just about recovering from a single incident and building a foundation for responding to future attacks.
“We’re not here to necessarily stop the attacks,” Atlanta Chief Information Officer Gary Brantley said on a panel Monday at CityLab D.C. “We’re here to prepare for the inevitable.”
Atlanta is hardly alone in having fallen victim already. Newark, New Jersey, paid $30,000 to recover its systems after a ransomware attack last year. (The U.S. Justice Department says a pair of Iranian hackers was behind the Newark and Atlanta attacks.) In Baltimore, Maryland, the city’s computer systems were down for weeks this spring after the city refused to pay an $80,000 ransom. According to USA Today, the tab for this attack could run upwards of $18 million. And many other cities, large and small, have been locked out of their systems and forced to make the same tough choice: Payout tens of thousands of dollars at once to (hopefully) fix an urgent problem or spend several million more to (potentially) be in a better position for the future?
Getting governments up to speed on cybersecurity will be costly but necessary: “Bad actors are a lot more organized than cities.”
Brantley, who joined the City of Atlanta about six months after the attack, says cities should commit to taking the second path.
“It’s less about the attack for me and more about your ability to respond when it happens,” he said.
Since becoming Atlanta’s CIO in October 2018, he has focused on building a continuity plan. Hence, city officials know how to continue operating city services even if cyberattacks take down their networks. He compared preparation efforts to school safety drills: “When there’s a disaster situation, those kids know exactly what to do,” he said because they’ve practiced it before.