East Greenwich Hit By Hacker Who Demanded Ransom

East Greenwich Hit By Hacker Who Demanded Ransom

“The Town is experiencing some technology network issues that may impact how activities are processed. We are aware of the issue and are working to restore services to full capability. Please check back later this afternoon for additional updates,” the Town of East Greenwich posted to its website on Friday.

The Town has refused to release the demand email for ransom by hackers.

East Greenwich is just one of many municipalities hit by hackers seeking payment to release the town’s computer system in exchange for payment — almost always demanding payment by cyber currency.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

As the New York Times reported this summer, 22 cities across Texas were simultaneously held hostage for millions of dollars “after a sophisticated hacker, perhaps a group of them, infiltrated their computer systems and encrypted their data.”

“More than 40 municipalities have been the victims of cyberattacks this year, from major cities such as Baltimore, Albany and Laredo, Tex., to smaller towns including Lake City, Fla. Lake City is one of the few cities to have paid a ransom demand — about $460,000 in Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency — because it thought reconstructing its systems would be even more costly,” reported the NYTimes.