Los Angeles Valley College pays $28,000 ransom after cyberattack
After detecting a cyberattack, the Los Angeles Community College District has paid $28,000 in bitcoin ransom.
The virus, initially detected on Dec. 30, affected the computer network, email and voicemail system of the college. After consultations with information technology professionals on staff, cybersecurity experts and law enforcement, the college district paid the ransom a day after classes resumed.
“It was the assessment of our outside cybersecurity experts that making a payment would offer an extremely high probability of restoring access to the affected systems, while failure to pay would virtually guarantee that data would be lost,” said Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez. “After payment was made, a ‘key’ was delivered to open access to our computer systems. The process to ‘unlock’ hundreds of thousands of files will be a lengthy one, but so far, the key has worked in every attempt that has been made.”
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Cara joined TriMed Media in 2016 and is currently a Senior Writer for Clinical Innovation & Technology. Originating from Detroit, Michigan, she holds a Bachelors in Health Communications from Grand Valley State University.