Computer Security Several Washington DC CCTV Cameras Taken Down by...

Several Washington DC CCTV Cameras Taken Down by Ransomware Days Before Trump Inauguration

Washington DC CCTV ransomware take downThere's a brave new world out there when technology makes or breaks our livelihood. In the recent scope of the political atmosphere, there are a multitude of stories swirling around the US presidential Election and the new leader of the free world's recent actions during his first week in office. Among the stories making their rounds, there is one that has sparked our attention in the cybersecurity world out of the Washington Post.

DC Gets Hit With A Healthy Dose of Destructive Ransomware

In a recent article, the Washington Post claims that about 70% of the storage devices of CCTV systems in Washington DC that had the task of recording data from the D.C. Police surveillance cameras were infected by hackers days before Trump's Inauguration. Such an alarming finding allegedly from city officials makes us wonder what else may have taken place on the cybersecurity front at such a paramount time in US History.

The Washington Post story about CCTV cameras in DC being infected by hackers comes at a time that we have taken notice to new and emerging ransomware threats that are becoming more sophisticated. With that in mind, it's no surprise to us to find that the Washington Post reported that the CCTV storage devices were hit with a form of ransomware requiring officials to take prompt action to get them back online before Inauguration day of the 45th President of the United States.

The Evolution of Ransomware Takes No Prisoners

In the past couple of years, ransomware has primarily been known to target personal computers only to make aggressive monetary demands after holding infected systems for ransom through encryption of data and files. Threats such as CryptoLocker, CrytoWall, Locky Ransomware, and Osiris Ransomware, have all been at the upper echelon of the most dangerous and destructive malware threats in our current generation with new and more sophisticated threats of the same principle on the horizon.

Reportedly, the cyberattack on the CCTV systems in DC just before Trump's Inauguration affected about 123 of the 187 video recorders in total for the part of the city's CCTV system allocated for police, which was confined to cameras that monitor public areas. Moreover, the ransomware that took hold of the CCTV systems demanded a ransom just as other well-known threats do in the vastly growing family of ransomware.

Instead of paying to meet the demands of the ransomware that took hold of the CCTV systems, authorities were able to take all of the infected devices offline, wipe them clean by removing all of their software, and then restarting them in each site possibly with fresh installs of their essential software.

The Remedy To Ransomware is A Narrow Path

While there are only a couple methods to resolving ransomware on an infected device, the idea of wiping a system infected with ransomware clean and reinstalling the software is becoming more popular. As it turns out, due to the nature of ransomware and its track record of not allowing files that the malware encrypts to be decrypted or accessed, more and more end-users are resorting to the drawn-out task of reinstalling the software to clean their device. Fundamentally, systems that become infected with ransomware will warrant removal of the threat and then restore files from a backup copy of the hard drive. In other cases, victimized computer users may opt to wipe an infected device's hard drive clean and start over by reinstalling their software, including the operating system and various applications, which is what took place to restore all affected CCTV devices in DC. Such a task can be hideous and daunting for most but beats paying ransomware attackers hundreds to thousands of dollars to obtain a decryption method, which isn't guaranteed in the first place.

The perpetrators behind the ransomware attack on CCTV camera devices in DC just before Trump's Inauguration were not provided by authorities. Fortunately, authorities were able to handle the situation in a timely manner without any backlash or negative impact on using the cameras during Inauguration day. However, with such a scathing report out of the Washington Post, it makes us all wonder what other cyberattacks may have taken place at such a time or any other given time of an important political event in the capital of the United States. For now, we can only wonder and at the same time take the proper precautions to keep ransomware off of our own computers and devices.

1 Comment

CCTV Camera Installation Reply

The Washington DC police department has revealed that a large percentage of its CCTV cameras were taken offline in a ransomware attack. D.C. officials quickly took the closed-circuit TV system offline, removed the software, and restarted the cameras.

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