Another city hit by ransomware attack. This time the police department is the target.
The North Miami Beach Police Department is the latest agency to suffer a cyberattack.
City officials confirmed the breach Friday evening, saying they discovered the ransomware on Tuesday. The affected computer systems were immediately shut down, but public safety services haven’t been interrupted, the city said.
“Our Police Department continues to conduct all operations to keep our residents and streets safe,” a statement from the city says, “and citizen calls for assistance will continue to be responded to promptly.”
An ongoing investigation has yet to conclude whether other departments or services were hacked. Early indications suggest they might have escaped without incident, city officials said. Federal investigators are assisting with these efforts.
The hacker’s identity remains unknown. A city spokesperson refused to comment on how much ransom was demanded or whether the city paid it.
Numerous Florida cities have fallen victim to cyberattacks in the past year. In June, Key Biscayne, Riviera Beach and Lake City paid more than $1 million in total ransom to hackers. More recently, much of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s office’s network was knocked entirely offline as a result of an attack.
Hackers have begun more frequently targeting cities and small businesses due to their “unsophisticated systems,” experts say. Baltimore, Atlanta and New Orleans are just a few of the places that have been attacked.
According to the FBI, the number of ransomware attacks has increased 300 percent since 2015.
