Monday, July 01, 2019
Jesus. We never learn.
More local governments hit by ransomware.
In the first fucking place, computer security is NOT DIFFICULT. Pay for the best antivirus, preferably from a non-Sorosian company like Kaspersky or AVG. Don't click on spam. Keep important data rigorously and PHYSICALLY disconnected from the web.
In the second fucking place, PAY THE TWO DOLLARS. Get the ransomware turned off. Even if the Two Dollars is actually half a million, it's still cheaper than being down for weeks while you rebuild your entire system without most of the data. Paying won't "encourage the criminals". They're already encouraged.
In the third fucking place, PAYING IS PART OF CATCHING. This has always been central to police procedure for old-fashioned kidnappings. Make the payoff immediately. Even if you don't get the victim back, the payment gives you a new link to the criminals. You know where the envelope with "unmarked" (actually marked) bills went, and you can track the criminals from there. If you do get the victim back, the victim can tell you something about the criminals and where they took him.
Obvious parallel. Paying via bitcoin is paying via NSA. The "unmarked" digital units are actually marked. You can track the transaction. After the computers are functioning again, you can try to trace the source of the malware.
¶ 11:20 PM 
