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Tonight it's a huge headache to complete a home sale in Baltimore. The city's computer system that looks for property liens or debts to check for a clear title is locked up. As buyers and sellers wait, the city searches paper files by hand. I've been here since 6:45 in the morning. I think that they're trying their best to get as many of our documents processed. Baltimore was hit two weeks ago by ransomware, freezing thousands of city computers. Hackers demanded 13 bitcoins worth about $100,000 for the code to unlock the system. A similar attack tied Atlanta in knots last year and cost millions to recover. Greenville North Carolina a city of 90 thousand was hit just last month. So far this year analysts say 25 local governments have been victimized.
The president of Baltimore City Council Brandon Scott says his city will not pay the ransom. When you talk to technology people and others that people who pay ransoms, they can leave something in the system and come back and shut you down again and I just have to take the advice of the law enforcement and the professionals. Cyber security experts say the spread of these attacks is a warning that cities large and small must be better prepared. Cash-strapped municipalities are uniquely vulnerable to this kind of ransomware attack because they're using older systems. They don't keep them updated and they don't have the resources to be able to respond. But with ransomware attacks spreading cities are finding that a strong defense is no longer a luxury.
