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By Josh Perry
Hometown Weekly Staff
On Monday, Jan. 25, the staff at the Medfield Town House found something unusual when they attempted to log in that morning. Instead of the normal screen, the Town of Medfield discovered that it had been the victim of a computer hack and was unable to get access to its computers.
The system had a Cryptoware virus, which the town believes came through an infected email, and the attack was designed to, as Chief Robert Meaney phrased it, “change the locks on the doors” of Medfield’s computer system. The message was simple - pay a ransom of half of a bitcoin (about $300) and get the system back.
According to Assistant Town Manager Kristine Trierweiler, the town immediately shut down its server when it discovered the virus. She added that in researching the virus and speaking with several agencies, it was learned that these type of ransoms started several years ago and have hit various towns and organizations, including severeal in the area.
The town tried to switch to the backup server, but the virus was also found there.
After conversations with law enforcement and IT professionals, the town decided that paying the ransom would be “the most expedient option.”
The hackers sent the software key when payment was received and the town was able to open its computers, although the system was not fully operational until Monday, Feb. 1.
The town has assured residents that it was not a data breach and there was no information lost or stolen. That includes payroll and employee information or school and public safety information, which are all kept on a separate server in case of a possible hack.
Sitting in her office, two days after the town’s computer systems were up and running again, Trierweiler was able to chuckle about the absurdity of the town paying ransom for its computers.
Although no information was lost or stolen, Trierweiler said that the town has already started looking into beefing up its anti-virus and adding new protocols for emails and web browsing to try and minimize the possibility of a re-occurrence.
Josh Perry is an Editor at Hometown Weekly. He can be reached at news@hometownweekly.net and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.
